2 Workers Shot at Market; Robbers Flee

Two employees at a Vons in La Verne were shot Thursday morning during a botched robbery only hours after a failed supermarket heist in Orange County in which 20 employees were taken hostage.

The standoff at an Albertson’s in Anaheim ended peacefully when police arrested both gunmen 5 1/2 hours after they burst into the store, while the La Verne robbers escaped after shooting the two employees in their stomachs.

Supermarket workers said robberies are a grim reality in their line of work. “Where there’s money,” said Vons employee Cheryl Eckert, “there’s trouble.”

Police said the trio of robbers in La Verne opened fire about 7:45 a.m. after assistant manager Jorge Espinoza balked at taking them to the safe in the back of the store, where a handful of employees and customers were hiding.

“He was really looking out for his employees,” La Verne Police Capt. Chuck Montoya said. “That could be described as an act of heroism.”

The robbers shot Espinoza, 38, three times and clerk Joe Martinez, 22, once. Both were in fair condition Thursday afternoon.

The bandits fled in a waiting teal subcompact car driven by a woman, Montoya said. As Espinoza and Martinez were rushed to nearby hospitals, police whisked the remaining employees and customers to the La Verne police station.

There they were greeted by actor Christian Slater, who just began serving time for battery and drug charges in the La Verne jail. As part of his sentence Slater must assist police with office work, and the actor handed out coffee to the shaken witnesses and signed autographs, police said.

Vons spokesman Brian Dowling said staff members are trained to cooperate with robbers and that the safety of employees and customers comes first. He would not comment on Espinoza’s actions until police got more information.

Montoya said the three robbers apparently had been in the store several times in recent weeks. Thursday morning they posed as customers and pretended to purchase apricots and a greeting card as they approached Espinoza in the front of the cavernous market.

The three were described as black males, all in their late teens or early 20s. One had short hair and wore a gray and black sweatshirt and black pants; another weighed about 160 pounds and wore a white down jacket with white stripes on the sleeves and the word “Polo” on the back; the third wore a green stocking cap and black jacket.

Store owners said the shopping center where the Vons is located has been the target of several thefts. However, residents in this leafy San Gabriel Valley suburb of 31,000--which saw only 31 robberies last year and no shootings--were stunned by the violence.

“This is our backyard,” said Valorie Greenstreet, a 10-year resident. “It’s too nice around here for this to happen.”

In Anaheim, Diana TerBush, 47, was even more startled when her trip to Albertson’s for some bleach Wednesday night turned into a bizarre supermarket takeover.

Two teenagers burst into the store about 10:50 p.m. and said, “This is a stickup,” TerBush recalled. One then said: “I don’t want to hurt anybody. I don’t want to shoot anybody. I don’t want your money so just be calm.”

But someone called police, and more than 50 Anaheim officers soon arrived. The robbers tried to flee out the back door, but when they spotted the police they ran back inside.

The gunmen told about 20 people in the store that their guns weren’t loaded. But then the older robber sipped malt liquor and poured his heart out to TerBush, pleading for her to take his gun and shoot him, she said.

“He said he had a rough life and caused his mother a lot of heartache and wanted to die so she won’t have any more heartache,” recalled TerBush, a teacher’s aide.

Anaheim Police Lt. Joe Reiss said the first two hostages were released at 12:15 a.m. Thursday, another four were let go 30 minutes later and the remaining 14 got out about 1 a.m.

The older robber, identified by police as Glenn Parks, 19, of Los Angeles, talked with police on the phone for more than an hour before turning himself in about 2:20 a.m.

More than a dozen Anaheim SWAT officers entered the store an hour later, searching it aisle by aisle for the second suspect, a 17-year-old Anaheim youth who would not respond to phone calls or messages relayed over a bullhorn. They found him hiding in the attic and arrested him about 4 a.m.

The second suspect’s name was not released because he is a juvenile.

Times staff writers Steve Carney and Nicholas Riccardi contributed to this story.