ROBBERS TARGET VALLEY EATERIES RESTAURANT OWNERS WARNED TO BE CAREFUL.

Byline: Jason Kandel Staff Writer

With their easy access, ready cash and low security, restaurants are easy pickings for armed robbers and are targeted in Los Angeles more frequently than gas stations, markets and banks, officials report.

Citywide, 580 restaurants were robbed last year, including 170 in the San Fernando Valley - the most in any geographic area in the city, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Eateries along busy thoroughfares like Ventura and Laurel Canyon boulevards and Sherman Way were the most popular targets because bandits can melt into the crowd and have quick access to freeways.

``Robbers have determined that restaurants are easy pickings,'` said City Councilman Dennis Zine, a retired LAPD sergeant who represents the West Valley. ``Clearly this sends a message that restaurant owners need to be more aware that these crimes are taking place.''

In some portions of the Valley, that message has been heard loud and clear.

Monique Patton, owner of Big Mama's Kitchen, a New Orleans-style soul food restaurant in Woodland Hills, was the target of an attempted robbery last year. Two armed men were scared off before they could rob her at the Ventura Boulevard eatery.

``I saw one of them get out of the car, and he had a rifle about as long as my arm,'' Patton said. ``It scared the hell out of me. I went out and got me a (firearm) after that. I feel a little bit more secure now. I go to the shooting range all the time.''

Gas stations also make good targets, with 380 robbed citywide last year, including 124 in the Valley. Robbers also hit 72 markets in the Valley and 378 citywide, as well as 50 minimarkets in the Valley and 182 citywide.

Bank robberies totaled 144 citywide and 38 in the Valley.

The 170 restaurant robberies recorded in the Valley Bureau compared with a maximum of 145 in any other region of the city. The South Bureau recorded 145; the Central Bureau, 136, and the West Bureau, 124.

All types of restaurants are being targeted - chain and family-run establishments, fast-food eateries and elegant dining spots.

Most of the crimes occur when a restaurant is about to close, there are few remaining customers and the staff is counting the day's receipts.

``They're easy targets. It's quick cash. It's in and out,'' said Lt. Jim Grayson, who heads the robbery detail for LAPD's Robbery Homicide Division.

Many of the stick-ups are believed to be the work of a handful of serial robbers.

Detectives are hunting for a man they have nicknamed ``the Asian Restaurant Bandit'' who uses a 9 mm blue-steel handgun and is believed to have committed as many as 40 robberies in the Valley.

``This guy's a real pain,'' said LAPD Detective Mike Gannon. ``He'll hit two times one day, then hit three, four days later. He stops for three weeks or a month or stops for six months. Then, all of a sudden, he hits again.''

The Asian Restaurant Bandit last struck early in December between 9:30 and 10 p.m. at two restaurants in the 18000 and 17000 blocks of Ventura Boulevard.

Police wonder where he has been lately.

``Every time I think he gets hit by a truck or is in jail, he strikes again,'' Gannon said. ``He's all over the place. It's very frustrating.''

The bandit is described as an African-American, 30-35 years old, 5- foot-11 and 180 pounds. He conceals his identity with a ski mask, a blue bandanna and a black beanie.

Another suspect, Craigor Lee Smith, 36, of Chatsworth, whom police dubbed the ``Bad Tooth Bandit,'' was believed to have been responsible for as many as 35 heists at fast-food restaurants. He was killed last June, officers said, when he threatened them with a gun as they tried to arrest him.

Police said Smith had been committing the robberies to support a drug habit and made off with between $50 and $60 at a time.

In North Hollywood, police are continuing to search for a pair of gunmen suspected of takeover-style robberies at four Mexican restaurants. In an April 25 stick-up, the men stole a shotgun from one of the victims at Don Juan Carniceria.

``Every block, just about, has got a restaurant in the business districts,'' said Deputy Chief Ronald Bergmann, who heads the LAPD's Valley Bureau. ``I am concerned, but unless we see a pattern with those restaurant robberies, there's not a lot we can do other than trying to help owners figure out a way to make the place less robbery-prone.''

Todd Burke, a professor of criminology at Radford University in Virginia, suggests that owners and workers at small businesses limit their cash on hand, meet a robber's demands and give up the money.

``Money can be replaced,'' he said. ``Robbers really don't want to hurt people. The danger comes in when resistance is encountered.''

Jason Kandel, [phone]

jason.kandel(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

map

Map:

FAVORITE TARGETS

SOURCE: Los Angeles Police Department Warren Huskey/Staff Artist