CYPRESS : Shop Owner Critical After Shooting

A doughnut shop owner was in critical condition after being shot twice during an apparent robbery early Wednesday.

Bun H. Tao, 33, of Laguna Hills was taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange where he underwent surgery for bullet wounds to the chest, said Cypress Lt. John Schaefer.

Police said it was not clear what happened immediately before the 4:30 a.m. shooting and that they had no information on suspects.

“We’re still trying to establish a motive. Mr. Tao was the only one inside the store at the time of the shooting. Right now, robbery is a possible motive,” Schaefer said.

Police found the shop owner behind the front counter. Tao had managed to call 911 and reach police before he collapsed.

The store, at 11741 Valley View St., had a video camera for security purposes, but police refused to say whether it may help their investigation.

Tao is the nephew of Ted Ngoy of Mission Viejo, who was once considered Southern California’s doughnut king.

Sandra Blankenship, president of the Cambodian Business Assn. in Long Beach, was shocked to hear of the shooting.

“I live in Cypress and I know that doughnut shop. This is just a shock,” Blankenship said.

She said that while many Cambodians had heard of Tao and his uncle, few had known Tao personally.

In 1977, Ngoy became the first Cambodian immigrant to own a doughnut shop, and eventually helped his nephew emigrate to California. Tao originally worked at his uncle’s La Habra shop baking doughnuts every day.

Last month, Tao was quoted as saying that the once-flourishing doughnut business “was struggling.”

He had taken over an aunt’s doughnut shop and was still operating a doughnut supply company that he owns in Santa Ana. The company reported $10 million in annual sales, almost all of it to Cambodians.

But business was bad and struggling shops owned him an estimated $700,000.

“Things are very tough now. Every corner is doughnuts,” he was quoted as saying.

As news of the pre-dawn shooting spread through Valley View Plaza, which houses Tao’s shop, store owners expressed concern about security.

“This mall is really in an isolated area and it’s close to a freeway,” said Gary Owen, co-owner of a clock and jewelry shop. The shooting “is a sign of the times. It’s getting tougher and tougher to make a living.”

Bill and Lynn Simpson, who own a pet shop in the same shopping center, said they saw police cars and investigators at the doughnut shop early Wednesday.

“After my husband found out what had happened, right away we said to ourselves, ‘It could have been us,’ ” Lynn Simpson said.