A Tale of Two Cities

By Gaby Wenig
Published on November 6, 2003

On Oct. 14, Joseph Javaheri, a Jewish man from Pico-Robertson was tending the counter at Avalon Discount, a grocery-slash-everything store in the area patrolled by the LAPD's Newton Division -- considered Los Angeles' third worst neighborhood in terms of crime.

At 8 p.m., closing time, Javaheri, 59, had already locked one of the security gates, and was in the process of locking the other, when two black males in their mid-20s forced their way into the store. One lingered at the entrance; the other dived across the counter and stuck his hand in the open cash register, pulling out a fistful of cash. He jumped back toward the entrance, which was only a couple of feet away from the register. As he and his accomplice started to make their getaway, Javaheri accosted them in an effort to get the cash back, according to some sources. One of the men took out a handgun and shot Javaheri at point-blank range in the chest.

Javaheri was dead. The men got away with less than $100. The murderers remain at large.