Police Say Restaurateur Shot Would-Be Robber
The owner of the Grecian Village restaurant in Studio City on Tuesday morning shot a Texan who sat up all night drinking with him and then tried to rob him, police said.
Mikalis Gioupis, 36, of Houston was undergoing surgery at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Burbank, said Los Angeles Police Detective Mike Sullivan. Hospital spokeswoman Altha Ross said Gioupis was wounded in the abdomen, an arm and a leg.
Gioupis was expected to survive, and will be charged with attempted robbery, Sullivan said.
The shooting occurred about 9:20 a.m. at the restaurant on the 3700 block of Cahuenga Boulevard West. Gioupis and restaurant owner Nikolaos Roussis, whom Sullivan described as acquaintances, had been drinking together through the night.
Gioupis left about 9 a.m., but returned shortly afterward with a screwdriver to rob the restaurant, Sullivan said. A struggle ensued and Roussis, 60, who needs crutches because of a disability, opened fire with a .25-caliber handgun he keeps at the restaurant, the detective said.
Roussis of Studio City was pistol-whipped and bruised in the struggle, Sullivan said.
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