$13 Taken in Robbery of N. Hollywood Store : 4 Men Held in Slaying of 7-Eleven Clerk

Four men were being held Friday on suspicion of murder in connection with the Dec. 18 robbery of a North Hollywood 7-Eleven store and the shooting death of its clerk, Los Angeles police said.

Police said they arrested a young man early Friday in a stolen car that fits the description of a getaway car used an hour earlier in the armed robbery of another 7-Eleven in Van Nuys.

Police said his arrest led to a man suspected of being involved in both 7-Eleven robberies and implicated two 18-year-olds in the murder. The two latter men already were in custody on unrelated charges.

Raymond Martinez, 18, of North Hollywood was arrested at 1:50 a.m. Friday at Cahuenga Boulevard and Califa Street, an hour after an armed man fitting his description took $89 from the 7-Eleven at 13700 Vanowen St. in Van Nuys, police said.

Money, Gun Found

Inside the stolen car Martinez was driving, police said, were $89 and a gun of the same type and caliber used to kill 7-Eleven clerk Sudhir Walia, 35, of Van Nuys on Dec. 18. In that case, three men took $13 from the store in the 13000 block of Moorpark Street in North Hollywood. One of the men shot Walia, who was working alone.

Martinez, who police believe fired the gun that killed Walia, was being held at North Hollywood Jail without bail on suspicion of murder. Ballistics tests will be conducted next week to determine whether the gun was used in the killing, Lt. Ron LaRue said.

Arrested later Friday in connection with the Dec. 18 robbery was Adam Murillo, 27, of North Hollywood, who police believe served as lookout. Murillo was being held in North Hollywood Jail without bail.

The two other men, who were in custody on unrelated offenses, are Jerrell Haschke and John Gilette, both of North Hollywood. They were in County Jail in lieu of $16,000 bail each on charges of robbing a man of his car at gunpoint Dec. 31 in Hollywood. Haschke and Gilette were arrested Jan. 3 after officers saw them driving the stolen car in North Hollywood, LaRue said. He said their bail was revoked Friday.

LaRue said police plan to ask the district attorney’s office by Tuesday to file murder charges against all four.

LaRue said convenience stores are targets because “they’re open 24 hours a day. During those late hours, trade is slow. There are not many witnesses.”

In an unrelated case in August, 38-year-old Vijay Shankar Roy of North Hollywood was shot to death with a handgun as he reached into a cash drawer at a Van Nuys 7-Eleven to comply with a gunman’s demand for money. Two men were later arrested and charged with the murder.