Two Stabbed in Robbery at Postal Facility

Two postal workers in Van Nuys were stabbed repeatedly--one of them 11 times--during an early morning robbery in their employee parking lot Saturday, authorities said.

Police are seeking the four robbers, described by witnesses as being in their late teens, who may have gotten only a wallet from the two men they assaulted.

Richard K. Nowlin, 46, was stabbed in the chest, stomach and ribs. He was taken to Northridge Hospital Medical Center, where he was in critical condition but expected to survive, according to postal inspector Pamela Prince.

Douglas A. Rawson, 39, of Sylmar, was stabbed twice in the back and was treated and released from Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, nursing supervisor Dawn Lombardo said.

The attack occurred about 2:40 a.m. as Nowlin and Rawson chatted in the parking lot at the Van Nuys Processing and Distribution Center on Sherman Way, Prince said. Nowlin, a mail handler who has worked for the postal service for 26 years, was returning to work after a dinner break. Rawson, a letter-sorting clerk, had just gotten off work.

The two were approached by teen-agers who demanded money, said Los Angeles police Sgt. Ralph Krusey.

Postal workers who witnessed the attack told police that when the men refused, they were stabbed. The teen-agers also apparently stole one of the victim’s wallets and then escaped in a light-colored Oldsmobile or Buick Regal, Prince said. The witnesses called paramedics.

Postal workers say the stabbings were the most serious in a string of incidents at facility. They say cars have been stolen, employees robbed and accosted in the well-lit parking lot.

“Anyone can come into that parking lot, and they do,” said one worker, who would not give his name. “Security hasn’t been what it should be. What we need is someone at the gate to check IDs.”

Postal officials say the parking lot is regularly patrolled but they lack the staffing to increase patrols.

Times staff writer Tracey Kaplan contributed to this story.