GLENDALE : Suspects Held After 2nd Robbery at Store

Two Los Angeles men who allegedly were successful in their first attempt to rob a Glendale comic book store were arrested this week after a second robbery of the same store, police said.

Allan Reyes Villa, 18, and Eric Nagallanes, 18, were arrested late Wednesday night after an unknown amount of money and valuable baseball cards were taken from Legacy Comics, 123 W. Wilson Ave., Police Officer Rod Brooks said.

It was believed to be the second time the men had robbed the store, Brooks said. Suspects evaded police after taking $5,000 worth of baseball and hockey cards May 25, he said.

Other suspects arrested and booked on suspicion of first-degree robbery in Wednesday night’s incident were Errold Punay Nagallanes, 19, of Los Angeles, and a 15-year-old Los Angeles juvenile.

The suspects, except for the teen-ager who was taken to Los Padrinos Juvenile Detention Center, are being held in Glendale City Jail in lieu of $75,000 bail each. An arraignment date has not been set.

Three of the four suspects were waving loaded guns when they approached the owner of Legacy Comics, Howard Chen, right after closing time Wednesday night, police said.

Chen and his clerk, Ernie Pukler, were forced into the store office, ordered to lie face down on the floor, and were tied up, Brooks said. The robbers then ransacked the front of the store, took money from the cash register and fled through the front door, police said.

Chen managed to free himself and called police. A witness told officers that the suspects had escaped up an alley near E. Wilson Avenue and N. Orange Street, police said.

Officers later arrested three of the suspects near the alley. The fourth suspect, the juvenile, was arrested at his Los Angeles home early Thursday.

Police found money, comic books and baseball cards in the alley, along with a 22-caliber revolver, a .357 magnum revolver and a Colt .45 automatic handgun, Brooks said.