(LOS ANGELES, AP) — Police say some of the 14 workers held hostage overnight during a robbery at a Los Angeles clothing store were assaulted, and one was stabbed.
Police Lt. Andy Neiman says the stabbed worker was treated for a non-life threatening wound.
He says another worker was sexually assaulted and others were manhandled during the four-hour standoff at a Nordstrom Rack store near Los Angeles International Airport.
At least two robbers are being sought.
The ordeal began around 11 p.m. Thursday and ended around 3 a.m. Friday when a SWAT team entered the store but found no robbers.
Police are also trying to determine whether a car found in neighboring Culver City was the getaway vehicle.
The employees — 13 women and a man — were being questioned.The ordeal at the Promenade at Howard Hughes Center began at about 11 p.m., when a boyfriend of a Nordstrom worker placed a frantic 911 call and said his girlfriend called him and said there were armed robbers in the store, Lt. Andy Neiman told KTTV-TV.
Police officers and special weapons teams swarmed the mall. Stores were closed, but moviegoers at a theater in the complex were sheltered in place as a precaution, the lieutenant said.
The southbound Howard Hughes Parkway freeway off-ramp on nearby Interstate 405 was shut down during the hostage drama.
Just after 3 a.m., SWAT team members entered the Nordstrom Rack and found some employees locked in storage area and others hiding in a bathroom, Neiman said.
It’s unclear when the suspects escaped.
The Promenade is an outdoor shopping center with stores, restaurants and a theater complex. The Nordstrom Rack store is on the second floor of the complex.