2 Robbers Slain; Clerk Questioned

The clerk of a family-owned jewelry store in Van Nuys fatally shot a man and a woman as they fled with two accomplices after a Saturday afternoon robbery, witnesses and authorities said.

Los Angeles police took store clerk Nelson Segovia to the Van Nuys station for questioning, said his wife, Maria. Police say he chased the robbers out of the Segovia Jewelry store, which is owned by his father-in-law, and then fired as they ran.

“I heard one gunshot and about 10 seconds later two more gunshots,” said Erik Nelson, 29, a truck driver who was delivering beer to a nearby restaurant. “They were pretty loud. I thought it was a car backfiring.”

The body of a man lay about 10 feet from the doorway of Segovia Jewelry, which is located in a strip mall on Victory Boulevard near Woodley Avenue. The woman’s body was in an alley behind the store. Authorities have not identified them.

A gun believed to belong to one of the robbers was found on the pavement between the two bodies.

Police said two other robbers, described as men in their 20s, ran away and are believed to be armed and dangerous. Investigators used dogs to search the neighborhood.

Segovia was working alone at the store during the 1 p.m. robbery, said his wife. The family kept a .44-caliber revolver behind a store counter, she said, after a robbery last year of thousands of dollars worth of gold. “We were scared,” Maria Segovia said, explaining why they kept a gun.

Police would not say if Segovia would be arrested.