Alleged Doughnut Shop Robber Killed by Police

Oxnard police shot and killed a robbery suspect early Friday at a midtown doughnut shop, which had recently been hit by a series of thefts.

Larry Brown, 27, was shot during the 2 a.m. robbery attempt at Poster’s Donuts on West Magnolia Avenue, police said. He was taken to St. John’s Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.

Police had the shop under surveillance because they believed Brown was responsible for five robberies in the last month, including two on the same night.

It was the fifth officer-involved shooting in Oxnard this year.

Brown allegedly entered Poster’s Donuts about 2 a.m. and was seen by police leaping over the counter. An employee pulled out a handgun, but Brown allegedly wrestled it away from him, police said.

Two officers heard shots, police said, and when the officers entered the store, Brown pointed the gun at them. They exchanged fire and Brown was struck, police said.

The names of the officers were not released.

The store clerk was not aware that the shop was under surveillance, which is not unusual, said Sgt. Bernie Schmalhofer. He said he believed this was the first time the employee had brought a gun to work.

“You see what happens when you bring a gun in,” Schmalhofer said. “Up until then, nobody had been hurt. The clerk is lucky he’s alive.”

Brown had been in and out of jail for the past several years, mostly for drug charges related to methamphetamines, and in 1995 was sentenced to three years in state prison for robbery, according to court documents.

Brown was arrested five times last year on drug charges, and had 12 prior arrests since 1992, authorities said.

He had been arrested on another drug charge last month and was back on the streets in four days after being ordered to drug treatment, according to court records. At the time, police suspected Brown of the doughnut store robberies, but the night employee could not identify him, said Sgt. Jim Seitz.

“We had four robberies, and then they stopped while he was in custody,” Seitz said.

Officers believe Poster’s doughnut shop was robbed so many times because of its convenient location. Brown apparently slept nearby on a bedroll by a strip of trees near the train tracks, Schmalhofer said.

Brown allegedly robbed the shop twice on June 6, on June 8, June 12, and Wednesday morning, authorities said. Officers set up surveillance outside the shop that evening, but the alleged robber did not show up a second time, authorities said.

Officers believe, however, that he was responsible for another robbery Wednesday at a doughnut shop in the 400 block of South Ventura Road.

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Times staff writer Tracy Wilson contributed to this story.