Teen-Ager Held in Shooting of Store Owner

A 48-year-old jewelry store owner was shot and wounded in a holdup Monday and a suspected robber was arrested shortly afterward, authorities said.

Bedros Bidrusian of Glendale was in serious condition with a wound in the abdomen at County-USC Medical Center, a hospital spokeswoman said.

“We expect him to survive,” Glendale Police Sgt. Lief Nicolaisen said.

A 17-year-old Los Angeles boy, arrested on suspicion of robbery and attempted murder, is believed to have been one of two robbers who held up Bidrusian Jewelry, situated in a strip mall at 1102 1/2 S. Glendale Ave., about 11:30 a.m., Nicolaisen said.

Bidrusian, who was alone in the shop, raised his hand and was immediately shot by one of the robbers, Nicolaisen said. Police declined to say whether the youth in custody was suspected of the shooting. The weapon had not been recovered as of Monday afternoon.

Witnesses told police that they saw two or three males leaving the jewelry shop in a 1992 Buick Century. That vehicle, which police learned had been stolen, was found abandoned in the 1200 block of Romulus Drive, Nicolaisen said.

The 17-year-old was arrested at 12:15 p.m. after police followed a slate gray pickup truck containing people who matched the robbers’ description, he said. The teen-ager was dropped off near a McDonald’s Restaurant and was caught in the 1500 block of Kent Place, police said.

Police Monday night were looking for the pickup’s driver--described as heavyset and between 28 and 30 years old--and a 25-year-old man who was dropped off on East Colorado Street, Nicolaisen said.