COVER STORY : $35,000 Reward in Slaying of Los Cerritos Mall Worker

A $35,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person who killed a restaurant employee in January in a parking lot at Los Cerritos Mall.

Sheriff’s homicide investigators said a male gunman fatally shot John Henry Gallo, assistant manager of Sbarro, and stole a bank deposit bag containing about $1,800 in cash receipts from the restaurant. The assailant ignored Gallo’s wallet, which contained credit cards and about $30 cash.

Investigators said Gallo, 30, and two co-workers had left the Italian restaurant in the mall’s food court about 10:15 p.m. on Jan. 13 and were walking toward Gallo’s car when the assailant approached from the shrubbery next to the San Gabriel River (605) Freeway. The suspect shot Gallo, a Downey resident, and removed the bank bag from his pocket. Gallo’s fellow workers fled as the shooting erupted.

Earlier this month, the Cerritos City Council issued a $25,000 reward and New York-based Sbarro Inc. offered another $10,000. Anyone with information can contact the sheriff’s homicide bureau at (213) 890-5500.