Ebrahim Torbati, 71

Ebrahim Torbati, a 71-year-old man of Iranian descent, was shot in the neck by a would-be robber in his shop at 840 Santee St., in L.A.'s fashion district downtown, at about 4:15 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 23, and died at 4:54 p.m.

LAPD Det. Doug Pierce of Central Division said the suspect--a black man 25 to 30 years old, slim, 5-foot-6, with a gray cap and shirt (pictured in sketch at right)--came to the store posing as a customer, left briefly, then returned and reached into the drawer in Torbati's desk where he kept his cash. Torbati tried to stop him. The man shot him, then ran north to 8th Street and Maple Avenue, where two women waited for him in a white Toyota Camry. They escaped.

Det. Pierce is at (213) 972-1254.

Torbati was a poet and the owner of Rug City.

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