Three arrested in hostage-taking, robbery at Nordstrom store, L.A. police say

By: Crimesider Staff
Topics: Daily Blotter

Los Angeles police investigators outside a Nordstrom Rack store near the Los Angeles International Airport on Jan. 11, 2013

/ AP Photo/Reed Saxon

(CBS/AP) LOS ANGELES - Police have arrested three suspects after a department store shooting at a Nordstrom Rack in Southern California where 14 employees were taken hostage on Thursday, authorities said.

Sgt. Dennis Beacham told The Associated Press on Sunday that the arrests were made, but declined to elaborate further. The Los Angeles Times reported that one of the suspects was taken into custody Friday and another on Saturday.

Investigators had strong evidence including physical evidence and security footage that linked the men to the three-hour ordeal robbery on Thursday, the Times reported.

The men were not identified and police did not release details of the arrests.

One employee was stabbed and another was sexually assaulted before the robbery ended early Friday at the Nordstrom Rack store at a shopping center near Los Angeles International Airport.

Police officers and SWAT team members swarmed the shopping center and found most of the hostages locked in a storage room and two others in a bathroom, police said. The employee who was stabbed was treated and released at the scene.

To help identify the suspects, detectives conducted numerous witness interviews and examined surveillance video from inside and outside Nordstrom Rack as well as from surrounding businesses.

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