2 Suspects Sought in Slaying of Grocer : Crime: Descriptions of men and clues link them to at least one other holdup. The pair may also be responsible for a series of robberies of small stores, authorities say.

Authorities were searching Friday for two suspects linked to at least two holdups of small grocery stores, the latest of which ended in the shooting death Thursday of a 60-year-old grocer in Montrose, Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials said.

Descriptions of two young men who were seen fleeing the shooting and clues found at the market match information from several recent robberies throughout the county, including one in Maywood on Wednesday, said a Sheriff’s Department investigator who asked not to be identified.

In the Maywood robbery, a grocer fatally shot one of three armed men who took jewelry and $200 in cash from his store, said Sheriff’s Deputy George Ducoulombier.

Ducoulombier declined to say whether the Maywood and Montrose holdups are linked to other crimes. But the sheriff’s investigator said the two suspects who escaped from the Maywood robbery are believed to be the same men responsible for a series of crimes including the death Thursday of Barkev Nalbandian, 60, who was found sprawled on the floor of his small dairy and liquor store on Florencita Avenue in Montrose.

Witnesses heard two shots about 4 p.m., and shortly afterward saw two men speeding down the street in a car, said Sgt. Gilbert Parras of the sheriff’s homicide bureau.

Investigators said they believe the men took money from the store because the cash register had apparently been emptied of $10 and $20 bills.

At the time of the shooting, Nalbandian had been rolling coins and stacking bills, preparing to deposit the money in a bank down the street, Parras said.

“We could tell (Nalbandian) had come from behind the counter, and probably tried to pursue the individuals,” Parras said. “He may have said something like, ‘Put that down or pay for it.’ There may have been a struggle right there. Some of the displays . . . and a long row of refrigerators were knocked down.”

Neighbors remembered the grocer--known to them as “Bob”--as a friendly, generous man who would make small loans to customers and deliver groceries to the homes of elderly women. He even visited a customer in the hospital when she was sick, recalled Louis Pfeifer, 74, who lives across the street from the store.

“The guy was just one helluva nice guy,” Pfeifer said, standing in his driveway Friday morning and squinting across at the peach-colored market. “He’d help you with anything. He’d give credit, cash checks for $300, $400, all kinds of stuff.”

Pfeifer said Nalbandian may have been too trusting. He remembered warning the grocer several times to shut his cash register drawer, because he often left it open, leaving large amounts of money in full view of customers. But Nalbandian just shrugged off any danger.

“He trusted everybody,” Pfeifer said. “That was probably his downfall.”

Ado Vinci, a delivery truck driver who arrived at the store Friday to deliver boxes of baked goods, broke into tears when a neighbor told her the grocer was dead.

“He was a nice man, nice to everybody,” she said. “Why would they shoot him?”

“This is his little country store,” she said. “He worked every day. Today, he would’ve been putting the trash out. He was usually always putzing around.”