CAR DRIVER ROBBED OF DEPOSIT; THIEVES MAKE OFF WITH $4,700, DEPUTIES SAY.

Byline: Orith Goldberg and Patricia Farrell Aidem Staff Writers

In a daring daylight heist Friday on one of Santa Clarita's busiest streets, a gunman robbed a gas station manager who was delivering cash to a Valencia bank, sheriff's deputies said.

The 35-year-old victim, who asked not to be identified, was in his car, waiting at a traffic signal on Valencia Boulevard, when two men pulled up behind him. One approached the victim, held a gun to the his head through the open car window and grabbed the money, the victim said.

The pair made off with the $4,700 deposit tucked in a white plastic bag with the Shell Oil logo, Santa Clarita Valley sheriff's deputies said.

The 10:30 a.m. robbery took place in front of the Valencia Town Center mall and Santa Clarita City Hall, and a block from the Santa Clarita sheriff's station. The victim, a three-year employee of the Shell station at Valencia and McBean Parkway, was driving to the Bank of America a block away.

Station owner Jack Khangura said he does not use an armored service to transport his deposits because the bank is so close and the area has little crime that employees feel safe driving to the bank.

Initial reports said the robber and an accomplice escaped west on Valencia Boulevard in a small white car, and sheriff's deputies mobilized toward the likely escape route, the Golden State Freeway. Once interviewed, however, the victim said the robbers escaped to the east.

The victim returned to work shaken and paged his boss, who called the sheriff's station, Khangura said.

``I was blown away because it was the first time it ever happened to me,'' the manager said. ``I didn't know what to do.''