Van Nuys : 2 Suspects Arraigned in Attack on Stanton

Two North Hollywood men pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of pistol-whipping and robbing actor Harry Dean Stanton during an alleged home invasion robbery last weekend.

Jose Rivera, 18, and Alberto Guerrero, 20, each face charges of assault with a deadly weapon, assault with a firearm, carjacking, false imprisonment, possession of flammable material, use of a destructive device and home invasion robbery.

Rivera, who was in custody on $960,000 bail, was also charged with evading arrest. Guerrero was being held on $945,000 bail.

Municipal Judge Leland Harris scheduled preliminary hearings for both men on Feb. 1.

Authorities said Stanton, 69, was tied up at his Mulholland Drive home Saturday night, kicked twice and hit in the head with a handgun during a robbery by three armed suspects. The suspects fled in Stanton’s 1995 Lexus, which was equipped with a tracking device.

Stanton, whose movies include “Repo Man” and “Alien,” was able to free himself and call police. A short time later, police found the car parked at Valley College and soon after arrested Rivera and Guerrero.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Carol Fisch said the flammable material and destructive device charges stem from an apparent plan to destroy the Lexus with a Molotov cocktail. The carjacking charges are unrelated to the Stanton case, but involve a theft from a pizza deliveryman late last week, she said.

The third alleged gunman in the Stanton case remained at large, authorities said.