`HERO TO ZERO'; ARMORED TRANSPORT GUARD ACCUSED OF STAGING HOLDUP.

Byline: Lisa Van Proyen Staff Writer

One of two Armored Transport guards honored for coming to the rescue of police during the 1997 North Hollywood bank shootout was arrested on suspicion of robbing his own armored truck last week, police said Friday.

``He went from a hero to a zero,'' said Lt. Otis Dobine of the Los Angeles Police Department's Robbery-Homicide Division in Los Angeles.

David Campbell, 36, of South Central Los Angeles was arrested Thursday as part of a group of seven suspects who police say commandeered an armored truck in Van Nuys on Sept. 3 and escaped with up to $500,000, Dobine said.

Campbell, the driver of the vehicle before it was commandeered, was tied up in the back of the truck guard during the robbery. He posed as a victim, when in fact he was one of those involved, detectives said.

The passenger guard, also tied up, was not part of the inside robbery, Dobine said.

Five other suspects - including two other part-time Armored Transport employees - also have been arrested. A seventh suspect was at large.

Detectives did not know until Friday that Campbell was one of two guards who the LAPD and Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil Garcetti praised shortly after the North Hollywood shootout, during which Campbell displayed nothing short of lion-hearted bravery.

On Feb. 28, 1997, Campbell and another guard heard gunshots and voluntarily moved their armored truck into the battle zone of flying bullets and plucked wounded officers from the Bank of America parking lot and helped civilians to safety.

The five-year Armored Transport employee also helped drive SWAT teams in the bullet-resistant truck into the area of the firefight.

Dubine said his role in the recent heist came under scrutiny because of discrepancies in his account, at first because he violated company safety precautions by allowing the two gunmen into the armored truck that can resist bullets.

Police said the two men had Campbell drive the truck from the corner of Sherman Way and Orion Avenue in Van Nuys to an alley off Victory Boulevard and Odessa Avenue, where Campbell and the passenger guard were tied up.

``Campbell was part of the plan,'' Dobine said.

The two gunmen fled in a stolen white van, which police later recovered near Woodley Park, said Detective Charlie Stubbs of the LAPD's Robbery-Homicide Division.

Nobody was injured during the takeover.

Detectives retrieved about $70,000 of the stolen money when Lancaster sheriff's deputies stopped one of the suspects in connection with an unrelated offense Tuesday, Dobine said.

That suspect had large sums of money still bundled up in bank wrappers in his vehicle. Knowing about the bulletin on the armored truck robbery, deputies contacted downtown robbery detectives. The arrest led detectives to arrest other suspects, beginning Tuesday.

The others arrested on suspicion of robbing an armored vehicle include:

Jose Fernandez, 24, of North Hollywood.

Christopher Baca, 30, of Panorama City.

Raul Priceno, 24, of North Hollywood.

Louis Perez, 30, of Pacoima.

Detectives said they did not immediately have information on the sixth suspect in custody.

This armored truck robbery marks the second one so far this year in the city of Los Angeles, Dobine said. As of Friday, detectives had not tied this group to any other robberies.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

Photo: (1--2) At the scene of 1997's North Hollywood bank shootout, David Campbell is in the truck, shown above, assisting police. At left, Campbell accepts a Courageous Citizen Award for that help from L.A. County District Attorney Gil Carcetti in May 1997.

Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News