Gunmen Beat 4 Workers, Flee in Van

WOODLAND HILLS —  Four employees of a large electronics store were beaten by shotgun-toting robbers wearing Halloween disguises who barged into the building early Friday just as the workers were arriving.

The Fry’s Electronics employees, all men, were beaten on the face and head, but their injuries were not life-threatening, said Det. Robert Johansen of the Los Angeles Police Department West Valley Division. They were treated and released from a local hospital.

The three robbers, who fled abruptly without any loot, were armed with two shotguns and a handgun, but no shots were fired.

“It’s a possibility they may have waited until today to commit the crime” to blend in with others in Halloween disguises, Johansen said. “We noticed other employees coming to work in costumes.”

The robbery occurred about 6:40 a.m. at the store in the 6100 block of Canoga Avenue--just as the store manager arrived.

The robbers pulled up in a white van and shoved the manager inside the store, where four custodians were working, Johansen said. Two custodians ran to a back room and were not harmed, but two were beaten before they could escape.

The robbers ordered the manager to open the safe, and as he complied, two other employees walked in and were also attacked, Johansen said. “They were beaten up pretty badly,” he said.

Investigators said there was at least one other man outside who, for an unknown reason, urged his accomplices to flee. All four left in the van, which had been reported stolen in the Wilshire district.

The men drove about a quarter of a mile to the 6200 block of Owensmouth Avenue, where they switched to a blue sedan they apparently had parked there as a getaway vehicle, said Lt. Tony Alba, an LAPD spokesman.

From the van, police recovered a shotgun, fake mustaches, hair and noses, and dark slacks, white shirts and at least one tie, Johansen said.

The clothes appeared to match those worn by the robbers in a surveillance video, although they looked to be wearing several other layers of clothing underneath, he said. Investigators impounded the van for further investigation.