3 Suspects Arrested After Theft of Cash Register

Three impatient robbers, unable to open the cash register at a pizza parlor, stole the whole thing Monday but were then caught after fleeing with it, police said.

The three, one armed with a 9-millimeter semiautomatic pistol, entered Numero Uno Pizza Pasta & More in the 7100 block of Van Nuys Boulevard about 4:10 p.m. and demanded cash, said Los Angeles police spokesman Jason Lee.

Unable to open the cash register, the robbers took the machine and fled on foot into a nearby alley, Lee said.

An employee gave chase and the gunman fired at him but missed, Lee said. Police caught all three men a short time later. Two were on Vesper Avenue and the other was in a nearby alley. Police found the cash register behind a trash bin. No money had been stolen.

The gun was not found, Lee said.

“These days, cash registers are getting smaller and smaller,” Lee said. “The old ones, you couldn’t even pick them up by yourself. The new ones are not that big.”

Police arrested Carlos Arzeta, 22, Roberto Chavez Jr., 20, and a 16-year-old Van Nuys boy, all on suspicion of robbery.