More than a dozen L.A. gangs are sending out crews to prey on the mega-rich, targeting people with nice cars or expensive jewelry, LAPD says.
, so called because victims are robbed soon after leaving luxury boutiques and hotels, ritzy restaurants, trendy nightclubs and other locations where the gangs are scouting for targets.According to Capt. Jonathan Tippet, who spearheads the task force, police have identified at least 17 gangs, most based out of South L.A. and operating independently, that are involved. There were 165 such robberies in 2021 and 56 so far this year, he said, including several over the weekend.
“There’s no chance or opportunity for these victims even to comply. They’re just running up to people and attacking them, whether that’s putting a gun in their face or punching them and beating on them,” Tippet said. “Pistol whipping them as well.”A series of high-profile crimes in upscale parts of Los Angeles — “smash-and-grab” and “follow-home robberies” — have gotten widespread attention in recent months.
“LAPD has to constantly legitimize itself, constantly has to make itself useful to the community, by raising this specter of people running wild,” Khan said. In a four-week period from September to October, there were 45 follow-off robberies. In November, there were another 39, Tippet said. Adams, according to Moore, was involved in eight separate follow-off robberies over a sixth-month period starting last fall, including one in which two UCLA students were robbed of two watches worth nearly $145,000 after leaving a club, a second in which two foreign tourists were robbed of watches worth $73,000, and a third in which $51,000 in property was stolen.
Moore said Adams’ earlier and repeated releases from custody endangered public safety, and that people who are repeatedly arrested for gun crimes should not be let out before trial. He also suggested that prosecutors played a part by not seeking certain charging enhancements to those brought against Adams that might have kept him in jail.
Nonetheless, Hale — who could not be reached for comment — has since been released from custody, according to court records.
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