VAN NUYS : $50,000 Reward Offered in Slaying of Man at Store
A combined $50,000 reward was posted Wednesday for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the men who held up a grocery store in Van Nuys--a robbery that led to the death of a worker.
Robert Joseph Ward, 28, was shot and killed during the holdup at the Ralphs at Sherman Way and Woodman Avenue, said Los Angeles homicide Detective Steve Fisk.
Ward, a Coca-Cola employee, was using a pay phone in the store and talking to his fiancee when one of the bandits told him to hang up, Fisk said. When he didn’t, the robber shot him. Ward “didn’t realize there was a robbery going on,” Fisk said. “They probably thought he was calling the police.”
Homicide detectives are looking for Jose Santillan, 19, and Louie Velarde, 21, both of Pacoima, and a third suspect who has not been identified.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
