Attempted robbery attack at North Hollywood laundromat caught on video

NORTH HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A violent attempted robbery at a North Hollywood laundromat left the owner's wife injured Wednesday afternoon, marking the second attack at a Southern California laundromat in less than a week.

Surveillance video from Laundry King on Vanowen Street shows a man entering the business around 2 p.m. before confronting employees and demanding access to a safe, according to owner Vardan Kostanyan.

"He walked through the doors with a mask on, confronted my employees, demanding to get the keys to the safe, or have the safe opened up, and my employees were like, 'We don't have the keys,'" he said.

Kostanyan was not present at the time, but his wife heard the escalating commotion and stepped out from a back room, using a cart to shield herself and employees.

The suspect became more aggressive.

"He tried to get the other side of the cart and pushed her around ... and that's where she flew and went down on her knee and hurt her knee," said Kostanyan.

An employee pepper-sprayed the suspect, who ran from the business. Police arrested him shortly afterward.

The laundromat has been targeted before. Kostanyan said that about a year ago, two armed men robbed the business.

"Demanding again for her to open the safe, and she said she couldn't, so they hit her with the back of the gun," he said.

Saturday morning, a separate incident unfolded at a laundromat in Pomona, where a man with a machete allegedly followed a teenage boy inside and threatened him.

The boy's father, who owns the business, exchanged words with the suspect before the man shattered a glass door and fled.

In response to the repeated violence, Kostanyan said he has now hired a security guard for Laundry King.

"People are doing everything they can to make some money, I'm guessing," he said. "They're taking the wrong steps to rob businesses, small businesses, and hurt people."

The incident remains under investigation.