Detectives Look for Links in Night of Armed Robberies

A spate of armed robberies throughout the San Fernando Valley late Thursday night and early Friday morning has police puzzling over possible connections, authorities said.

Three of the robberies, at a convenience store and two restaurants, were committed by robbers of similar description--men in their 20s wielding handguns. The fourth involved a single gunman.

Detectives said they were exchanging information on the crimes, which were committed in four LAPD divisions. No one was injured in the holdups in Panorama City, Mission Hills, Woodland Hills and North Hollywood.

The first robbery occurred at 11:10 p.m., when a gunman made off with more than $1,000 from the Arby’s in the 11000 block of Sepulveda Boulevard in Mission Hills, said employee Dennis Kirwan, 17, who was assisting in the nightly cleanup at the time.

Store manager Luis Otzoy unlocked the front door to check out a man in his 20s walking through the parking lot. The man forced his way in, pulling out a revolver, said Kirwan, a Mission Hills high school student. He ordered Otzoy to empty the safe and after taking the money, told Kirwan, Otzoy, and another 17-year-old employee to wait 20 minutes before calling police.

The second crime was committed at a Black Angus restaurant in the 14600 block of Roscoe Boulevard in Panorama City at 11:15 p.m. Two men wearing dark ski masks and gloves and brandishing handguns forced an employee leaving the steakhouse to return, said Van Nuys Det. Susan Fischer. Only five other employees were in the restaurant, which had stopped serving food at 10.

The gunmen took $140 from two women and one man, Fischer said. No money was taken from the store register.

The next heist occurred at a 7-Eleven in the 20900 block of Ventura Boulevard in Woodland Hills at 11:50 p.m. Two robbers--not wearing masks--entered the store and asked the 22-year-old clerk for beef jerky, said West Valley Det. Bob Johansen.

Then one bandit pulled out a semiautomatic handgun and told clerk Raminder Goldi of Chatsworth to open the register, Johansen said. The other scooped up the money, about $100, and the two men fled in a dark-colored Honda, Johansen said.

The fourth robbery occurred at 12:30 a.m. at a Jack-in-the-Box in the 4800 block of Laurel Canyon Boulevard in North Hollywood. One man wearing a ski mask and another wearing a bandanna, both brandishing handguns, ordered everyone onto the floor, said North Hollywood Det. Richard Jamieson. In the restaurant were three employees and two customers.

They asked an employee to empty the register of an undisclosed amount of money. After leaving, the pair robbed a 35-year-old man from Woodland Hills waiting in the drive-through line.