Anaheim Police Kill 2 Men After Armed Robbery

A gun battle that killed two robbers and sent bystanders diving for cover in a busy Garden Grove shopping center Thursday night marked the violent end to a police surveillance operation by 10 Anaheim officers investigating a string of robberies at fast-food restaurants.

The shootout, which left the robbers’ Ford Tempo riddled with dozens of bullet holes, occurred after the two masked men held up an El Pollo Loco for more than $2,100, police said. The crime occurred in full view of members of an armed task force that had tailed the suspects for hours in three unmarked cars.

Anaheim police on Friday defended their handling of the case, saying the officers’ tactics helped prevent bystanders from being injured by the robbers, who are believed to be responsible for more than 20 holdups in Orange County.

Officials said the goal of the operation was to identify the suspects, not to follow them until they committed a robbery. The Los Angeles Police Department has been sued numerous times for following suspects and arresting them only after they commit crimes.

“Quite frankly, these folks were suspected of the robberies; we had a hunch that this vehicle was involved in the crime,” said Anaheim Police Capt. Dave Severson. “The surveillance was just to follow them. And when they pulled into this restaurant, things happened pretty quick.”

Police said three task force vehicles began tailing the car carrying the two suspects, identified as Sergio Perez, 29, and Claro Hernandez, 24, both of Anaheim, in shifts beginning early Thursday morning.

About 9 p.m., the men, who were armed with two handguns and a sawed-off, .22-caliber rifle, wheeled into the busy Harbor Town & Country Center on Harbor Boulevard.

Officers watched as the pair entered the restaurant, pulled on masks and demanded cash at gunpoint. Officers watched as the men fled and got into their car.

One police vehicle stopped in front of the Tempo, blocking it, as the two others closed in. Officers approached the car with their guns drawn and shouted for the men to surrender, police and witnesses said.

Police said neither suspect would surrender and that they rammed one of the police cars to escape. The driver jumped out and crouched behind the car.

Seconds later, a steady burst of gunfire ripped through the Tempo’s windshield and door panels, striking both men.

Video store customers estimated police fired more than 50 rounds.

Police would not say how many rounds were fired or whether the suspects got off any shots.

The officers “just started unloading on these guys,” said video store shopper Arlene Gutierrez.

Perez had a history of violent crime, according to court records. He served a prison sentence on a 1989 conviction for attempted murder in Los Angeles County. In 1999, an Orange County judge sentenced Perez to two years for pointing a gun at a motorist. He was out on parole for about four months.

Police say they did not arrest the men before the robbery because they did not have probable cause.

“Once they entered the restaurant there was really no safe way to intervene,” Severson said. “The decision was made to stop them before they went mobile. We don’t want a pursuit.”

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Times staff writer Stuart Pfeifer contributed to this story.