Gunmen Rob Bingo Players in Van Nuys

Three gun-toting masked men charged into a charity bingo hall in Van Nuys, ordered more than 200 players to drop to the floor, and stripped them of rings and the contents of their purses and wallets, police said Friday.

In about 15 minutes Thursday night, the trio swiftly and methodically took $13,000 in bingo proceeds and about $4,000 in cash and valuables from many of the 215 players, authorities said.

“Have a good night. We’ll be back again,” one victim quoted a robber as saying as he left.

“Everybody was shook up and afraid,” said a bus driver from Lancaster who was in the hall and was robbed of $200. “It was a scary situation.”

The games are operated three times a week by United Cerebral Palsy of Los Angeles, which once asked the city for permission to install locked security doors at the hall but was turned down. The agency grosses $300,000 a year and the games are the largest revenue source for the charity.

Bingo manager Ruth Croutch, one of eight volunteer workers who was on duty, said she was sitting in the office when a robber stuck a gun through the window and said, “Give me the money.”

“They knew exactly what to do,” Croutch said. “They knew the office had money. My emotion is not one of fear. My emotion is one of anger. I’m furious.”

The robbery has prompted the group, which operates more than 30 therapy centers and homes countywide, to consider stronger security measures, such as armed guards.

Los Angeles Police Detective Mel Arnold said holdups of charity bingo games, which are played throughout the Los Angeles area, are rare.

“This is the first one we’ve had in a long time,” Arnold said. “Hopefully, it will be the last.”