5th Man Pleads Guilty in Armored Truck Heist

VAN NUYS — The fifth member of a ring that staged a $1-million holdup of an armored truck pleaded guilty to robbery Tuesday in Van Nuys Superior Court, prosecutors said.

Luis Perez, 31, of Pacoima, is expected to be sentenced Sept. 6 to five years in prison, according to a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

Perez was part of a six-man squad that pulled off the Sept. 3, 1999, heist in Van Nuys, an inside job orchestrated by the truck’s driver, David Campbell.

In an odd twist, Campbell had been hailed as a hero two years earlier in the North Hollywood bank shootout, when he drove his truck into a storm of bullets to shield police and helped save a wounded bystander.

Campbell, a 37-year-old resident of South-Central Los Angeles, and three other accomplices have already pleaded guilty to kidnapping and robbery and were sentenced to prison terms, prosecutors said.

The others are Christopher Baca, 31, of Panorama City; Raul Briceno, 25, of North Hollywood; and Jose Fernandez, 25, of North Hollywood.

The kidnapping charges stem from the attack on Campbell’s armored truck partner, who was not involved in the crime but was forced into the vehicle and bound during the robbery.

The last alleged participant, 25-year-old Christopher Lee O’Connor of Palmdale, is scheduled to appear in court in the case Thursday, authorities said.