3 Suspects Sought in Armored Truck Heist

Police searched Tuesday for three suspects who shot and killed a 51-year-old Brinks guard as he delivered money to a cash machine inside a crowded Valley Glen supermarket.

Ignacio David Delgado of Canoga Park was shot and killed about 6:15 p.m. Monday in a Bank of America vault area and pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

The incident occurred inside the Albertsons supermarket at the Victory Plaza shopping center in the 13000 block of Victory Boulevard. It was the fourth armored truck robbery involving gunfire in Los Angeles County in the last six months--three of them resulting in deaths.

Delgado’s partner, Michael Kotnik, 34, of Sun Valley was slightly injured when the robbers fired semiautomatic assault weapons at him as he ran outside the store to safety.

Kotnik was probably injured by shrapnel, his mother, Anna Kotnik, said Tuesday. He was treated at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills and released.

The two gunmen escaped with an undisclosed amount of money in a white Chevrolet Astro van driven by a third suspect. Police did not immediately issue a description of the robbers. The van, which had been stolen Monday from a Northridge residence, was recovered a few blocks from the shopping center Tuesday morning.

Canoga Park neighbors mourned Delgado, calling him a gentle man who knew the hazards of his job.

“I feel bad for him because they killed him over some stupid money,” Jeffrey Colaco, 18, said Tuesday. “He told me how dangerous the job was. . . . He told me not to get a dangerous job like that.”

Guards’ Parents Want Justice

The slain guard’s mother, Laura Delgado, told KMEX-TV that the killers should receive the death penalty. “Those who killed my son, should themselves be killed,” she said.

John Kotnik said he was eager to see his son’s assailants arrested. “I just hope they catch those sons-of-guns because they are going to do it again. They are animals, very, very bad people. They don’t care for human life at all.”

At the shopping center, workers and customers expressed outrage and sadness at the brazen holdup.

“What a shame,” said Benny Sepulveda, an unarmed Burns security guard posted at a California Federal Bank branch across the parking lot. “I don’t have a gun. I don’t like to have a weapon. I think it’s more dangerous.”

Lisa Handel, 35, a regular shopper who heard the commotion from her home a few blocks away, said the shooting was terrible. “I came here this morning and I wanted to cry.”

Workers in neighboring stores were critical of Brinks, saying the armored truck made its Albertsons stop about 6 p.m. every day, making it easy for thieves to case the operation.

“They always come at the same time,” said Jacklin Younani, who works at both the Sav-On Drugs and the Cal Fed branch at Victory Plaza. “It’s not safe. I’m sure those guys knew when they were coming.”

Marven Moss, director of corporate projects at Brinks headquarters in Connecticut, said, “We have the matter under investigation at this time” and declined further comment on the shooting.

Bank of America spokeswoman Ashleigh Adams referred questions about the holdup to the FBI.

Last year in Southern California, four armored car guards were shot, two of them fatally, according to FBI statistics. By comparison, five of seven armored car guards shot in 1996 were killed, and four out of 10 shot in 1995 were killed.

In August, a shopper was killed in a Van Nuys Costco parking lot when gunmen opened fire on an armored truck guard. In December, a security guard was wounded during an attempted robbery of an armored truck in South-Central Los Angeles. The same month, an armored truck driver was killed in a holdup in West Hollywood.

Delgado had worked as a Brinks “messenger” since February 1997, Moss said. He was licensed as a security guard in 1993, and received a firearm permit in 1997, state Bureau of Security and Investigative Services records show.

His partner, Kotnik, worked for Brinks for about four years, first as a driver, then as a higher-paid messenger, Kotnik’s father said. He was issued a security guard permit in 1996 and a firearm permit in 1999, state records show.

Delgado and Kotnik had gone to the market to replenish money in the ATMs, located outside the bank office but inside the market, store officials said.

Tuesday morning, the Albertsons market reopened at 8 a.m., two hours later than usual, with two unarmed security guards posted outside.

Witness Describes Fleeing Robbers

The small, two-room Bank of America office is less than 10 feet from the grocery checkout lines. Customers may check balances, open accounts and take care of other non-cash banking duties but cannot withdraw money, except at the two ATMs.

Witnesses described a scene of rapid gunfire and confusion.

Francisco Gonzalez, who was repairing a rooftop air conditioning unit about 100 feet from the store entrance, said he “heard about 10 shots, really fast, at least two guns.”

Seconds later, he saw two men sprint from the market, one heading west toward a Bally gym, the other south toward Victory Boulevard.

Gonzalez said one man was about 6 feet tall, slim with long black hair. The other was “kinda heavy,” between 5-foot-8 and 5-foot-10, weighing 200 to 220, he added.

Albert Campos, one of the two shopping center security guards on duty Monday night, said he heard a quick popping coming from the Albertsons and saw a number of people running out of the store.

“I didn’t know what was going on,” he said. “Somebody screamed at me and said, ‘Officer, can you call 911? Albertsons is being robbed.’ ”

After being injured, Kotnik called his wife, Karla, and mother, Anna, from the scene to tell them he was OK. “We couldn’t understand what he was saying, except that he was bleeding,” John Kotnik said.

Neighbors Mourn ‘Good Ol’ Biker Guy’

Delgado’s neighbor, Teresa Marlette, described him as a “good ol’ biker guy with a heck of a Harley-Davidson T-shirt collection.”

“He would always wear dark [jeans], a leather jacket and boots,” Marlette said. “He was very laid back.”

Miguel Lopez, 19, said Delgado also drove an El Camino and fed a stray black cat. “He was very nice and very quiet,” Lopez said. “I’m so sad. When I go back to that Albertsons, I’ll always remember him.”

Bank of America, Brinks and Albertsons offered a $110,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspects, bank spokeswoman Adams said. Confidential calls should be directed to the WeTip hotline at (800) 78CRIME.

Albertsons expressed condolences to Delgado’s family in a written statement. “We are thankful that no associate or customer was injured in the incident,” the statement said.

Times staff writers Andrew Blankstein, Thuy-Doan Le and Jean Guccione contributed to this story.

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Armed Carrier Robberies

Since 1995, there have been 54 robbery attempts on armed carriers in Southern California.

Source: FBI