Slain Suspect Decided Own Fate, Police Say

Antonio Almandarez did not go down without a fight.

The suspected armed robber spun his 1972 Buick Riviera toward pursuing patrol cars Wednesday and engaged Los Angeles police officers in a joust-like gun battle, firing through an open window, authorities said Thursday. When it was over, the 33-year-old Almandarez lay dead on a Van Nuys street and Officer Jeff Nuttall had a slight wound to the shoulder.

“It was really by sheer luck the officer was not seriously injured,” said Sgt. John Pasquariello, adding that four officers fired at the suspect with handguns and a shotgun. “It was really a classic running gun battle.”

Almandarez and his alleged partner in a 10-week armed robbery spree led Los Angeles and Glendale officers on separate pursuits Wednesday.

In the other chase, which occurred four hours earlier and 20 miles away, an innocent motorist was killed in a head-on collision with suspect William Tanielian’s car, police said.

LAPD Cmdr. Garrett Zimmon said Almandarez’s own actions dictated his fate. “He made the decision to shoot it out,” Zimmon said. “It’s important to know that he decided he did not want to stop and he wanted to shoot.”

Nuttall was treated at Northridge Hospital Medical Center and released.

Almandarez had three felony convictions on his record, police said. They did not release details.

Tanielian, 34, also had an extensive criminal record dating back at least 13 years, including arrests on suspicion of attempted murder, burglary and narcotics possession, according to officers. Tanielian, who was a suspect with Almandarez in up to 50 fast-food restaurant robberies, is in the jail ward of Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center. He has been booked on suspicion of murder in Flores’ death, authorities said.

A spokesman for the Glendale Police Department said an initial review indicated that officers went by the book in chasing Tanielian, falling back as the suspect’s car reached speeds of 80 mph on an Eagle Rock street and a department helicopter took up the pursuit. The department’s policy requires patrol cars to ease back once a helicopter joins the chase, the spokesman said.

“A preliminary look at what happened appears that policy and procedures were followed,” said Glendale Sgt. Rick Young. “But as with any tragedy like this, we go through an investigation to determine if anything was done wrong or anything could be done better, so we don’t have a loss of life.”

LAPD Robbery-Homicide detectives, acting on tips from the public, had identified Tanielian and Almandarez as suspects in armed robberies throughout Los Angeles County.

Though the pair had not shot anyone, police said, they were growing more brazen in the holdups, jumping over counters and threatening people.

After receiving another tip, undercover LAPD detectives staked out a Glendale car dealership and waited two days for Tanielian to show up. On Wednesday, he dropped by to make a monthly payment on a car, officers said.

The detectives alerted uniformed Glendale officers and they attempted to pull over the fugitive, who was also wanted on burglary and narcotics charges.

6-Minute Chase Covers 8 Miles, Ends in Crash

According to Young, Tanielian then sped away. The chase played out over six minutes during which Tanielian traveled eight miles from east Glendale to Eagle Rock, much of his route along the Ventura (134) Freeway.

Though Tanielian was being tailed closely, the Glendale police hung back and let a police helicopter follow the suspect, who exited the 134 Freeway north onto Figueroa Street at 11:07 a.m., Young said.

Tanielian’s car swerved across southbound lanes of Figueroa and collided with Flores’ car, Young said.

According to accounts by police, after the Figueroa crash, detectives in unmarked cars staged a couple of stakeouts for Almandarez. One was at a home in the 7000 block of Shirley Avenue in Reseda. At 2:44 p.m., the detectives called for back-up officers after Almandarez was spotted driving away from the house.

Seven officers and detectives from the West Valley Division took up the chase. Almandarez sped away and, near Balboa Boulevard and Balboa Place, fired several shots at officers.

The suspect then sped north to Roscoe Boulevard, firing more rounds from his handgun.

Suspect Leaves Disabled Car, Fires at Officers

Almandarez drove a block east on Roscoe to Home Depot Place in front of the store’s parking lot, where his car was disabled. He crawled through the driver’s window, firing shots from a 9-millimeter pistol at officers. Police returned a volley of shots, killing Almandarez.

Sharky Klian, a downtown bail bondsman, said Thursday that he had been looking for Tanielian. On April 24, Tanielian jumped bail on a $35,000 bond Klian had posted.

Klian said Tanielian’s life took a turn downward years ago after his wife left with their children.

“He was a pretty good guy actually, but when she left he got messed up in drugs and he went bad,” said Klian, who added that Tanielian was from Beirut.

“I’m glad it took place with the cops so I’m not involved in the headache,” said Klian. “He would have had to kill me or I would have had to kill him and it’s not easy to live with killing a man who has kids.”

Daniel Pardo, a parking manager who was Flores’ boss at the Universal Hilton Hotel, said Flores was due at work right around the time of the crash, in which the dead man’s sister was injured.

Pardo described Flores, who worked at the hotel for nine years, as reliable, friendly and always willing to lend a hand.

“I consider him like a family member because I’ve known him for years,” Pardo said. “I’ve asked how it happened. Why does a guy like this have to go like that? He wasn’t doing anything wrong. He was just trying to take his sister to work.”