MONROVIA : Owner, Worker Wounded in Jewelry Store Robbery

Two robbers shot the owner and an employee of a jewelry store Thursday before fleeing with an undetermined amount of jewels, police said.

Arsak (Archie) Kazanci, 45, owner of Gem City Jewelers, was hospitalized in critical but stable condition with two abdominal wounds. Elmas Kalan, 27, was in serious but stable condition with wounds in the wrist and shoulder. Police sought a man and woman in their 20s seen driving north on Myrtle Avenue in a brown Chevrolet Monte Carlo.

The couple arrived at the store shortly after it opened at 9:30 a.m. and were buzzed in through a security door, said Monrovia Police Sgt. Richard Lukofnak.

The woman asked to see wedding rings. When Kazanci brought out a display case, the man, without provocation, fired at least four shots from a 9-millimeter semiautomatic pistol, police said. The suspects smashed several glass cases and fled with 20 to 30 gold and diamond rings, Lukofnak said.