SECURITY GUARD SUSPECTED OF ABETTING ROBBERY THAT LEFT ONE DEAD.

Byline: Orith Goldberg Staff Writer

A security guard at Tresierras Market is among three suspects arrested in a robbery last month at a Newhall market that left one employee dead and another with gunshot wounds, a sheriff's official said Monday.

Surveillance videotapes from the night of Oct. 30 indicate that guard Vincente Godoy, 27, of Canyon Country worked in concert on the failed robbery with two cousins; Carmelo Corado, 40, and Deynois Corado, 20, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Sgt. Barry Wish said.

Investigators served a search warrant at Godoy's home Friday night, arrested him and obtained information that led to the arrests Saturday of the Corados at a Canyon Country home where they had been staying, Wish said.

The three suspects were booked on suspicion of murder at the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's station. Investigators anticipate that the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office will file charges today against the trio.

Elva Arevlo, operations manager for Tresierras Market on San Fernando Road, was surprised that detectives had linked the guard to the night of violence.

``Who would have thought?'' she said. ``It makes you feel bad, because if we can't trust our own guards, we have got a problem here.''

Arevlo said Godoy, of Maxwell Security Service Inc., had worked as a relief guard at the Newhall market once or twice a week. She said the store had used the security company for two to three years, adding that security guards often rotated at the five stores in the Tresierras chain.

The owner of the security company said Godoy had been on the job about a month and came out clean in a background check.

Luis Valdez, 32, of Panorama City, an assistant manager at the store for more than 10 years, was shot and killed during the robbery when he was unable to comply with the robbers' demands and open the safe. His co-worker, assistant manager Teresa Cano, 41, of Newhall, was shot in the stomach.

Valdez and Cano were rushed to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 12:36 a.m. Oct. 31.

Cano was still recovering from the wound to her stomach Monday, Arevlo said.

``She is doing well,'' Arevlo said.

Valdez's family held a memorial service Nov. 5 and plan to bury him in his native Mexico, Arevlo said.

The robbery occurred at 10:30 p.m., a half-hour after the store closed. Two masked gunmen appeared from the rear of the store and went into the back office, where Cano was closing out the shift. They ordered her to open the safe, which had three separate doors, the third with a special timing device for added security.

Unaware that Cano had been accosted, Valdez and another co-worker were waiting outside the store for about 20 minutes. Valdez eventually went to check on Cano and walked in on the robbery, Cano said in a hospital interview.

As he approached the back office, the robbers ordered him to open the safe. Cano had opened the first door, and Valdez opened the second, but neither could trip the timer and open the third safe door, Cano said.

The employees tried to explain, but one of the robbers responded with gunfire. The two were hit.

Wish said Monday he was baffled by the shootings.

``The managers did cooperate with their demands the best they could,'' he said. ``To shoot someone who is cooperating is senseless.''

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Photo: (color) Three suspects are in custody in connection with a robbery at this store.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer