Jewelry Store Employee Shot in Robbery at Westminster Mall

WESTMINSTER —  An employee of a jewelry store in the Westminster Mall was shot during a daring robbery attempt shortly before closing time Friday night, police said. Four suspects were arrested.

The wounded employee was taken to Long Beach Memorial Medical Center for treatment, Westminster Police Lt. Bob Burnett said. The man’s identity and his condition was not immediately available.

The shooting occurred about 8:47 p.m. at Dekaro’s Jewelry, police said, when three men burst into the store and fired several shots, striking the employee in the shoulder.

“They just came in here and started to shoot up the place,” said Han Tatevosian during a brief telephone interview from the jewelry store. “They shot an innocent man.”

Tatevosian said he had gone to the store to pick up his wife, who is a sales clerk there.

Shortly after the shots were fired, the three men ran out of the mall and fled in a two-door Oldsmobile that had been reported stolen in Culver City, Burnett said.

Several patrol cars pursued the men, who abandoned their vehicle near Newland and Hazard streets. Police said they arrested four suspects, but their names were not immediately available.

Burnett said he could not say whether any jewelry was taken during the robbery. He added that further details of the incident were not immediately available.