2 arrested in California armored car robbery, guard shooting

LOS ANGELES - Two men were arrested Friday after they allegedly robbed an armored car outside a Los Angeles County bank earlier this week and shot a guard several times in an ambush, authorities said.

The alleged robbers stole about $140,000 and the guard’s gun on Monday outside a Bank of America branch in the Harbor City area, south of downtown Los Angeles near Carson, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles.

The men face charges of Hobbs Act robbery and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. The Hobbs Act prohibits robbery or extortion affecting interstate or foreign commerce. The defendants face three decades in prison.

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The Loomis armored car guard had been working on ATMs at the bank around 11:20 a.m. when the suspects, both armed and masked, ambushed him and opened fire, federal prosecutors said. He was struck several times in the leg before the thieves fled.

The guard, who was armed but didn’t shoot during the holdup, was treated for non-life threatening injuries at a hospital, authorities said Monday.

Authorities said surveillance video and cellphone records helped them link the suspects to the violence.