RESEDA BUSINESS ROBBED BY DUO.

Byline: Theresa Moreau Daily News Staff Writer

Robbers stole $100,000 from a Reseda check cashing business Thursday, the same day many customers were expected to cash monthly welfare checks there, authorities said.

About 6:30 a.m., two men approached a lone employee of Supermail International in the 6700 block of Reseda Boulevard, held him at gunpoint and demanded money, said Detective Robert Johansen of the Los Angeles Police Department's West Valley Division's robbery unit.

``Two men approached him - one with a gun, one with a knife. They told him, `We know who you are, we know where you live, we know your wife is pregnant. Cooperate with us or we'll kill you both,' '' Johansen said.

The employee opened the safe, and the two men helped themselves to the cash, Johansen said. No injuries were reported, and police withheld the name of the employee out of concern for his safety.

The robbers then fled on foot, running northbound on Reseda Boulevard. The money in large denominations was packaged in clear plastic bags, and the smaller bills were in gray metal boxes, Johansen said.

``There was no camera, no security. It was just an easy thing,'' Johansen said.

The employee had arrived early, as he normally has in the past, to prepare the business for the day's transactions, according to police.

The armed security guard employed for the express purpose of securing the business on welfare-check days wasn't scheduled to arrive at the location until 7:30 a.m. The business opens at 8 a.m. police said.

Supermail International had the large amount of money in the safe to cash welfare checks, which arrive on the first and sixth of each month for recipients of General Relief and Aid to Families with Dependent Children, police said.

Many of the dozens of people waiting in line for the business to open after the robbery said that they were waiting to cash their checks.

Dorothy Little, who has gone to Supermail International for the past year to pick up her Food Stamps, arrived at 8 a.m. but had to wait outside until 11 a.m., when police finished their investigation.

``People are getting their checks, and it's like a bank - they gotta have money,'' Little said.

Christine Umbertino, chief executive officer for Supermail International, could not be reached for comment.

Police described the robbers as male Latinos, both with black hair, brown eyes, about 5 feet 7 inches tall, 150 pounds and 25 years old.

The gunman spoke Spanish fluently, wore jeans, a jacket and had a clean-cut appearance. On the right side of his neck he had a tattoo of the number 13 in script. He had been seen in the business several times before, police said.

His accomplice, who wielded a knife, spoke broken Spanish, wore baggy gang-type pants and a baggy blue jacket, had a scarred, pierced hole in his eyebrow but no ring. He had a tattoo of the number 13 in script on his wrist.

Investigators urged anyone with information to call them at [phone] or [phone].

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2 Photos

PHOTO (1 -- 2) Police have released composite sketches of the robbery suspects.