Restaurants Security

A day after two Northridge teen-agers were shot to death in an early morning robbery of a Subway sandwich shop, other franchise owners in the San Fernando Valley said Monday that a requirement to keep their stores open late makes them prime targets for thieves. Subway officials acknowledged that some store owners might be edgy about staying open until 2 a.m. on weekends, but added that the company allows shops to close early if business is slow or the risk of robbery is high.

Federal regulators filed fraud charges against two executives with the Topz restaurant chain Wednesday, saying they cheated 360 investors out of $6.2 million. Mark R. Avila of Woodland Hills and Stephen R. Keenum of Newhall are accused of providing investors with bogus financial projections and misrepresenting how the investment money would be used.

Los Angeles city officials will hear public testimony Monday in Sherman Oaks on a proposal to open a restaurant and dance club at the site of a nightspot in Woodland Hills that was a magnet for trouble before it closed. The Red Onion at 6424 Canoga Ave. closed last year after the faltering West Covina-based chain of Mexican restaurants and nightclubs closed the businesses as part of a plan to sell each site to individual owners.

This was supposed to be a week of anticipation at Roosevelt High in Boyle Heights, with the whole school looking forward to Friday's division championship game at the Coliseum. Students and players did gather around the football team Monday--but sadly, it was to mourn. Early Sunday, one of the team's best players, 16-year-old offensive lineman Steve Delgado, was shot to death when he was caught in the middle of a gunfight while leaving a restaurant.

Three shootings during the last week at fast-food restaurants with drive-up windows has Compton officials calling for armed guards to patrol the parking lots. "Life is much more valuable than the few pennies it takes to hire these guards,' Mayor Walter Tucker said at a press conference to announce that the City Council today would consider an ordinance requiring the restaurants to hire guards.

A Superior Court jury in Chula Vista found that a San Diego restaurant was partly to blame for the beating of San Diego Charger defensive lineman Joe Phillips. The jury held that operators of Saska's restaurant were negligent for failing to provide adequate security in the parking lot area were Phillips was severely beaten on Sept. 16, 1990, by three men.

After hearing the owners of a restaurant promise to hire three guards to provide 24-hour security, the Planning Commission has granted Nancy and Larry Nguyen a conditional-use permit for their business. The manager of a nearby apartment complex, however, objected to the restaurant, which will feature ballroom dancing, saying she had a sinking feeling that the establishment would ultimately turn into a noise-filled bar.

Although a 20-year-old man was shot to death Monday night at a McDonald's drive-up window in Compton, the Compton City Council voted 4 to 1 Tuesday to rescind a short-lived ordinance requiring restaurants with drive-up windows to station armed guards in their parking lots. The council voted to require the security guards in August, just days after a young woman was shot and killed at a Taco Bell drive-up by a gunman who tried to rob her and her boyfriend.

The Aug. 21 wedding at Monrovia's Le Papillon restaurant was a night to remember, with its post-ceremony parking lot brawl among 150 well-dressed guests So, Monrovia Police Chief Joseph Santoro last week mailed restaurateur Andre Hindoyan a little remembrance of his own--a $2,200.88 bill for the city's part in ending the ruckus, which attracted 25 sheriff's deputies and police officers from Monrovia and Arcadia. Six people were arrested.

Federal regulators filed fraud charges against two executives with the Topz restaurant chain Wednesday, saying they cheated 360 investors out of $6.2 million. Mark R. Avila of Woodland Hills and Stephen R. Keenum of Newhall are accused of providing investors with bogus financial projections and misrepresenting how the investment money would be used.

Three current or former executives with Encino-based Topz restaurants were among 12 people charged Wednesday with securities fraud in connection with the sale of shares in the now-defunct Papashon restaurant chain. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed fraud charges against the 12 former Papashon sales agents and managers, alleging that they concealed the amount of commissions they were making from investors when they sold shares in Woodland Hills-based Papa Holdings Inc.

After hearing the owners of a restaurant promise to hire three guards to provide 24-hour security, the Planning Commission has granted Nancy and Larry Nguyen a conditional-use permit for their business. The manager of a nearby apartment complex, however, objected to the restaurant, which will feature ballroom dancing, saying she had a sinking feeling that the establishment would ultimately turn into a noise-filled bar.

Los Angeles city officials will hear public testimony Monday in Sherman Oaks on a proposal to open a restaurant and dance club at the site of a nightspot in Woodland Hills that was a magnet for trouble before it closed. The Red Onion at 6424 Canoga Ave. closed last year after the faltering West Covina-based chain of Mexican restaurants and nightclubs closed the businesses as part of a plan to sell each site to individual owners.

A Superior Court jury in Chula Vista found that a San Diego restaurant was partly to blame for the beating of San Diego Charger defensive lineman Joe Phillips. The jury held that operators of Saska's restaurant were negligent for failing to provide adequate security in the parking lot area were Phillips was severely beaten on Sept. 16, 1990, by three men.

The Aug. 21 wedding at Monrovia's Le Papillon restaurant was a night to remember, with its post-ceremony parking lot brawl among 150 well-dressed guests So, Monrovia Police Chief Joseph Santoro last week mailed restaurateur Andre Hindoyan a little remembrance of his own--a $2,200.88 bill for the city's part in ending the ruckus, which attracted 25 sheriff's deputies and police officers from Monrovia and Arcadia. Six people were arrested.

A day after two Northridge teen-agers were shot to death in an early morning robbery of a Subway sandwich shop, other franchise owners in the San Fernando Valley said Monday that a requirement to keep their stores open late makes them prime targets for thieves. Subway officials acknowledged that some store owners might be edgy about staying open until 2 a.m. on weekends, but added that the company allows shops to close early if business is slow or the risk of robbery is high.

Three current or former executives with Encino-based Topz restaurants were among 12 people charged Wednesday with securities fraud in connection with the sale of shares in the now-defunct Papashon restaurant chain. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed fraud charges against the 12 former Papashon sales agents and managers, alleging that they concealed the amount of commissions they were making from investors when they sold shares in Woodland Hills-based Papa Holdings Inc.

This was supposed to be a week of anticipation at Roosevelt High in Boyle Heights, with the whole school looking forward to Friday's division championship game at the Coliseum. Students and players did gather around the football team Monday--but sadly, it was to mourn. Early Sunday, one of the team's best players, 16-year-old offensive lineman Steve Delgado, was shot to death when he was caught in the middle of a gunfight while leaving a restaurant.

Although a 20-year-old man was shot to death Monday night at a McDonald's drive-up window in Compton, the Compton City Council voted 4 to 1 Tuesday to rescind a short-lived ordinance requiring restaurants with drive-up windows to station armed guards in their parking lots. The council voted to require the security guards in August, just days after a young woman was shot and killed at a Taco Bell drive-up by a gunman who tried to rob her and her boyfriend.

Three shootings during the last week at fast-food restaurants with drive-up windows has Compton officials calling for armed guards to patrol the parking lots. "Life is much more valuable than the few pennies it takes to hire these guards,' Mayor Walter Tucker said at a press conference to announce that the City Council today would consider an ordinance requiring the restaurants to hire guards.