2 Arrested, Hostages OK After a Bungled Robbery in Placentia

A 16-year-old boy and a man were arrested Wednesday after a bungled robbery in which they held the owners and employees of a Placentia silk-screen shop hostage for several hours, police said.

The would-be robbers burst into KBI & Associates and ordered the three employees to the rear of the shop, gagging and binding them with duct tape, police said. One of the two owners, Tom Garrity, was led to an office where the robbers demanded money.

The other owner, Kent Iwanaga, said he arrived at the shop about 10 a.m., two hours after the incident began, and was surprised that the front door was locked. Iwanaga said he let himself in and was met by the robbers, who took him to the office.

“They tried to get money out of us, but we didn’t have any on us,” Iwanaga said. “They said someone hired them to kill me for $5,000.” Iwanaga said he had no idea why they would say that, but he offered to go to the bank to get the money.

With the younger robber, Iwanaga drove to a Bank of America branch in Anaheim, said Placentia Police Det. Corinne Loomis. Iwanaga said that during the ride, the youth kept his hands shoved in his pockets, as if he had a weapon.

“He said, ‘Don’t do anything stupid or my friend will do something stupid’ ” back at the shop, Iwanaga said.

At the bank, the youth stayed in the car. Iwanaga, once inside, told a teller he was being robbed and asked her to call police.

Anaheim police said they landed a helicopter in the bank parking lot within a minute and found the teen sitting in the car, apparently waiting for Iwanaga to emerge. He was arrested without a struggle.

After listening to Iwanaga, police said, they went to the silk-screen shop and spotted the second suspect walking “rather casually and nonchalantly” outside the shop, Loomis said. He was questioned, then arrested.

Not knowing whether more suspects were inside, a SWAT team surrounded the shop and evacuated nearby businesses. Garrity and his employees emerged a short time later, unharmed.

Police said the young man arrested outside the bank had been carrying an inoperable handgun. A second weapon, believed to belong to the second suspect, was found inside the silk-screen business.

Both suspects were being held at the Placentia jail on suspicion of robbery and kidnapping. Neither has been positively identified, police said.

Iwanaga said he did not know either suspect, or why his business was targeted. He said he and Garrity have owned the business for 13 years.

Nervous but grateful to be unhurt, he said he will make at least one change in his work pattern.

“I usually stay late to work, but I think I won’t do that anymore.”