Robbers Wound Pasadena Merchant

An elderly Pasadena store owner was shot and seriously wounded Friday night when he resisted two bandits who tried to rob him as more than 20 customers watched, police said.

Vincent Mejia, 65, owner of the Manner Market in the 2500 block of East Colorado Boulevard, was in serious condition at Huntington Memorial Hospital, Sgt. Ed Miller said.

Mejia was pistol-whipped and shot when he hesitated to open his cash register to two armed men who walked into his crowded store at 5 p.m., Miller said.

About 20 horrified customers watched the attack. Several broke away and called police, but the two bandits had fled with $3,800 in store receipts by the time officers arrived.

Miller said the robbers’ getaway car, reported stolen earlier in Los Angeles, was found abandoned a few blocks from the store. The two robbers apparently escaped in a second car they had parked nearby, he said.