Merchant Kills 2 Extortion Suspects at Glendale Store

A merchant defied a group of men trying to extort money from him at gunpoint, returning their fire and killing two of the assailants, police said Wednesday.

The bloody shootout is a tragic example of the growing trend toward business extortion in Glendale’s burgeoning immigrant population, officials said.

Authorities asked that the merchant’s identity not be published, citing fears for his safety.

Responding to a 911 call, Glendale police arrested five men in the case before midnight Tuesday--four of them outside the Mirage Clothing & Shoes store, 620 S. Glendale Ave., and a fifth later at his home.

A series of extortion incidents in the city’s multiethnic communities have occurred, affecting Armenian, Korean and Latino business, officials said. Authorities said they fear others have gone unreported due to reluctance to trust police and fears of retaliation.

“It’s a serious problem and it’s certainly a concern,” City Manager David Ramsay said. “In many cases, in the countries [the merchants] come from, the relationships between the people and police are not good, so they do not feel comfortable coming forward to report threats.

“We’ve taken efforts to reach out to these various cultures and make them aware the police are here to help them, but obviously we have a ways to go.”

The owner was inside his business about 11:30 p.m. with several other people when the men arrived. After an argument and a brief physical struggle, police said, one of the suspects pulled a gun and fired two shots, one of which wounded a young boy, a relative of the merchant, in the groin.

The merchant then grabbed a gun and fired an unknown number of shots at the men, chasing them outside. One of the suspects was found dead in the store’s doorway, another about 50 feet away in the parking lot, police said.

“We believe the demands had been going on for some time, but we don’t believe he [the store owner] had been paying. It was a ‘give us a cut, or get out of business’ type of situation, and unfortunately it escalated into violence,” police spokesman Sgt. Rick Young said.

Police received a 911 call from inside the store, and officers arrived on the scene “while there was still smoke in the air,” Young said.

The five suspects arrested were identified as Gagik Kazarian, 42, of Glendale; Khoren Broutian, 32, of Hollywood; Hovik Fiterz, 36, and Mger Tagvoryan, 23, both of North Hollywood; and Omar Casas, 18, of Granada Hills.

Tagvoryan allegedly fled the scene in a green Toyota, which was apparently the getaway car, police said. He was later arrested at his home.

One of the two dead men was identified as Artur Atayan, 27, of North Hollywood, who died of multiple gunshot wounds to the torso. The other had not yet been identified.

All five suspects are being held at the Glendale City Jail awaiting arraignment.

The wounded boy was in good condition at a local hospital, police said. No one else was injured in the shootout.

Mirage Clothing & Shoes, a women’s boutique in a strip mall, opened in November 1994, according to city records. Its owners recently opened a children’s clothing store next door.

Police and merchants said violent crime is unheard-of in the middle-class neighborhood, which is dotted with various ethnic businesses.

Helen Le, who works in a dental office next to the clothing store, said she often works late hours and had never witnessed anything unusual. On the night of the shootout, she worked until 10:30 p.m.--about one hour before shots were fired.

“We’ve never had any problems here; it’s very safe,” Le said. “We’ve talked to [the store’s owner] many times, and he was always nice. But now I don’t know if I’ll stay late any more. When something like this happens, you don’t feel safe.”

Police said incidents of extortion appear to be limited to businesses owned by recent immigrants from countries where organized crime activities are commonplace and police are feared.

“In small businesses owned by immigrants, we’re finding that they’re being preyed upon by their own culture,” Lt. Ray Edey said. “There’s a pattern of putting fear and intimidation into the owners. We find it happening in all the different cultures in the city--Latino, Korean, Vietnamese, Armenian and others.”

Chahe Keuroghelian, the Police Department’s community relations officer, said the department has not made many arrests in such crimes in recent years because there have been few reports made by the victims.

“We have no way of knowing how much of this is going on,” said Keuroghelian. “The victims may feel it is less dangerous for them to pay the money that is being demanded of them rather than make a police report. There is the fear of retaliation and in many cases the fear of the police, two factors that are abused by the perpetrators.”