Thief Kills Owner of Liquor Store : Simi Valley: Suspect sought in the unsuccessful robbery attempt that left immigrant from Kuwait dead.

An immigrant from Kuwait was fatally wounded late Thursday when he tried to prevent an armed intruder from robbing his family-owned liquor store in Simi Valley, police said.

Abdul Bhola, 65, was shot once in the stomach as he tried to stop a man from taking about $250 from the cash register at R K Liquors, the mom-and-pop store he and his family had run on Los Angeles Avenue since October.

Bhola, described as a father determined to make life better for his 10 children, died of the gunshot wound shortly after midnight Friday morning while in surgery at Simi Valley Adventist Hospital, according to the county coroner’s office.

Bhola’s son, Amin, said the suspect never managed to open his father’s cash register.

Police said they chased the suspect until he fled from a stolen car, then they searched for him for hours. Police would not comment late Friday on the status of their investigation.

The shooting was the fourth homicide in Simi Valley this year and the 15th in Ventura County, compared to only 20 for all of 1990. Simi Valley had one homicide last year.

The shooting occurred at about 10:30 p.m., when a man entered the small store and walked directly behind the counter to the cash register, where Bhola and his 51-year-old wife, Roshan, were working, police said.

Bhola grabbed the man, who shot him with a handgun, Lt. Neal Rein said.

Simi Valley police patrol officers heard the gunshot, and Officer Andy McCluskey followed a silver 1987 Mazda as it pulled out of the parking lot, police said. The one-mile chase ended when the suspect turned in to a dirt field, sending up a huge cloud of dust that obscured the car from McCluskey’s view, police said.

The suspect, described as six feet tall and “heavyset,” apparently escaped into a nearby flood-control channel, police said.

Aided by a Ventura County sheriff’s helicopter, about 15 police officers and two police dogs searched unsuccessfully for four hours, Rein said.

On Friday, crime analysts combed the liquor store for evidence and fingerprinted the car, which was reported stolen in Thousand Oaks earlier Thursday.

Amin Bhola said he had noticed a silver car with two occupants as he left the store only minutes before the shooting. Police said they had no information about a second suspect.

“Everything was so fine,” the son said, his voice cracking. “I can’t believe this happened.”

Amin Bhola said his father, a native of Pakistan, worked as an engineer in Kuwait for 30 years. In 1986, Bhola emigrated to the United States, where he believed his 10 children would have a better life.

“There’s a lot more opportunities here than in Kuwait,” Amin Bhola said. “He was looking for happiness for his family and a good future.”

Five of Bhola’s children live in the United States. The others are in Pakistan and London, Amin Bhola said.

The family bought the liquor store in October, but it was not as successful as they had hoped. Amin Bhola said he would have given up except for his father’s encouragement. Business had picked up recently.

Part of the attraction of the store was Bhola’s welcoming manner, said friends who worked in businesses near the shop in Rancho Simi Plaza.

“Sometimes, I would go in and buy a 15-cent candy bar and you would have thought I was buying $20 of stuff,” said Drema Elliot, owner of Galaxy of Gowns.

She said that employees at the shopping center, who bought snacks and drinks at the store, were sad and shaken by Bhola’s death.

Super Bikes owner Felix Quinones, who said his business has been robbed five times, said Bhola’s death was a terrible waste.

“He was a real nice, sweet man,” Quinones said. “That’s stupid to kill anybody for $300 or $400.”

Times staff writer Carlos V. Lozano contributed to this story.