Police: Some of 14 hostages freed from L.A. clothing store were assaulted

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 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.

Police are also trying to determine whether a car found in neighboring Culver City was the getaway vehicle.

The ordeal at the Promenade at Howard Hughes Center began at about 11 p.m., when a boyfriend of aNordstrom 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, and ended around 3 a.m. Friday when a SWAT team entered the store but found no robbers.

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.

The Promenade is an outdoor shopping center with stores, restaurants and a theater complex. The NordstromRack store is on the second floor of the complex.