A candlelight memorial will be held Friday for Pravin Patel, who was shot to death during a robbery at his Quiznos sandwich shop in San Dimas earlier this month.
The 62-year-old Patel was shot around 3:20 p.m. June 2 after confronting a gunman who had just robbed his store at 1034 W. Arrow Highway, where tonight’s ceremony will be held.
According to detectives, the suspect approached the cashier’s counter brandishing a semiautomatic handgun and demanding money, and Patel gave him a bag containing an undisclosed amount of cash.
Patel then followed the robber outside, where a brief struggle ensued in the parking lot and he was shot, the sheriff’s department reported. He died at a hospital that night.
The robber was described as a man in his late 20s, white or Hispanic, about six feet tall and weighing 175 pounds. He was wearing a black cap, black shirt, and dark shorts with a plaid pattern.
A $20,000 reward approved by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has been offered for information leading to the suspect’s arrest and conviction. Anyone with information on the case was urged to call sheriff’s homicide detectives at (323) 890-5500, or Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS.
—City News Service