Robberies

You are more likely to be struck by lightning than to be held up at an automated teller machine. But in these nerve-racking times, it has come to this: Tony Johnson never goes to an ATM at night anymore without a gun. And he's not the only one who is hip these days to the cost-benefit ratio of this most cherished of modern banking conveniences. Malisa Robles won't visit a bank machine after dark unless it's in a grocery store, and R. Rex Parris won't use the infernal things at all.

Did someone sneak into the vault of Bank of America's Century City branch, manage to get into the safe deposit boxes of at least three customers, steal hundreds of thousands of dollars in jewelry, cash and gold coins, and, in some cases, substitute fakes--all without the bank's knowledge? That is the substance of allegations contained in three separate lawsuits filed in Los Angeles County by former customers of the branch at 1901 Avenue of the Stars, which closed last year.

Amid widespread unease about violence after dark at automated teller machines, three Los Angeles officials have called for a citywide shutdown of outdoor ATMs after dark. Los Angeles City Atty. James Hahn and Councilman Nate Holden stood Thursday with Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas to announce their support for a proposal made by Ridley-Thomas in the wake of an attack Sunday. Symbolically, they gathered outside a Crenshaw district bank where a man was shot while making a 3 a.m. withdrawal.

Former Police Det. Michael D. Brambles, once a star investigator for the Los Angeles Police Department's organized crime division, was sentenced Friday to 102 years in state prison for a 1994 rampage of stickups and sexual assaults. The 47-year-old Brambles has shown "no remorse whatsoever," Superior Court Judge John W. Ouderkirk said in imposing the sentence.

A man believed to be a UCLA ticket courier was shot and killed Sunday night next to Pauley Pavilion during an apparent robbery attempt, a university police officer said. The man was making a ticket drop at the Central Ticket Office when the shooting occurred about 8:30 p.m., said campus Officer Joseph Daum. The victim was shot in the chest and abdomen, he said, and was pronounced dead at UCLA Medical Center.

Notebook computers are an increasingly popular target of thieves at airports, according to officials at the Road Warrior Outpost, a Fountain Valley company that sells equipment and services for portable computers. Kevin Prince, vice president at the company, says the scam works like this: Two thieves spot a person about to carry a notebook computer through a metal detector. Both get in line ahead of the victim. One thief slips through the detector with no problem and waits on the other side.

He is a six-foot-tall, brainless, two-dimensional man. And for about 25 liquor and convenience stores in Paramount, he could be a saving grace. His name: Scarecrow. This cardboard cutout of a sheriff's deputy, soon to be placed in windows of stores identified as robbery risks, is part of a two-pronged, $25,000 crime prevention program approved by Paramount's City Council this week. For those at-risk stores, the city will pay 80% of the cost for a new security system.

Authorities originally suspected foul play, but the manager of rap trio Cypress Hill is attributing his two-day disappearance last weekend to a bout of amnesia caused by a blow to the head. Happy Walters, 28, was found unharmed in a Long Beach hotel Saturday night. He had last been seen at 5 p.m. Thursday when he left his West Hollywood office. He claims he was hit on the head by an assailant during an ATM robbery.

The number of reported crimes by precinct from Jan. 1 through March 31. Homicide Rape Robbery 1995 1994 1995 1994 1995 1994 CENTRAL BUREAU Central 7 7 10 12 306 501 Hollenbeck 17 13 3 9 323 328 Newton 13 20 13 20 465 529 Northeast 8 8 14 14 327 406 Rampart 27 13 22 27 614 730 SOUTH BUREAU Harbor 5 11 13 25 171 271 Southwest 11 13 34 36 603 645 77th 9 34 31 36 503 632 Southeast 27 22 24 23 509 505 WEST BUREAU Hollywood 6 5 36 34 467 562 Pacific 4 7 21 14 310 304 West L.A.

The record industry is abuzz over news that Warner Music Group is conducting an internal investigation into the possibility that more than 20,000 compact discs in 1994 were stolen and distributed on the sly to retailers.