Baldwin Hills restaurant targeted in smash-and-grab robbery; Suspects may be responsible for Tuesday Fortune House robbery
A group of suspects responsible for a smash-and-grab robbery that targeted a Miracle Mile restaurant Tuesday may be the same individuals wanted for a similar incident that occurred Sunday in Baldwin Hills.
The scene that unfolded Tuesday saw three individuals, wearing hoods and masks, enter Fortune House Chinese Cuisine before one physically confronted an employee, while the others yanked a cash register off the counter and out of the wall before all three fled from the scene on foot.
After watching a CBS broadcast that showed footage of the incident, Jayson Mai, a manager at The Kickin' Crab in Baldwin Hills reached out to detail an eerily similar robbery that struck at his place of work just days prior.
Security footage from inside The Kickin' Crab shows a group of three, dressed almost identically to those from Tuesday's crime, loitering in the lobby of the restaurant for several minutes before making their move the second the employee behind the counter walked away -- again ripping the cash register off the counter before sprinting out of the eatery and fleeing on foot.
Mai spoke with CBS reporters Thursday evening, where he detailed the events - and the glaring similarities - between the two smash-and-grab robberies.
"We never really thought that someone would steal the register in broad daylight," he said. "Seeing the video it just clicked in my mind, those are the same teenagers that took our register."
Mai was working Sunday but wasn't manning the register when a group of customers alerted him that they had just been robbed. He said that the suddenness of the crime caught everyone off-guard, especially since it was in the middle of business.
He said that the group, which he described as "teens," approached the employee behind the desk with questions about a take-out order, before striking several minutes later.
"I've never seen something like this happen in my eight years of customer service," Mai continued.
He noted that he thinks the suspects are the same in both instances, especially bringing attention to the distinct yellow sweatshirt worn by one of the suspects, with markings in the same places.
In both robberies, the person tasked with grabbing the register was indeed the one wearing the yellow hooded sweatshirt.
"Just looking at their height and their build, it looks like they're the same people," he said.
He also said that he refrained from filing a police report Sunday since he thought the suspects looked like young teenagers, but he realized that after seeing the CBS report at Fortune House Chinese Cuisine, he should so it doesn't become more of a trend.
The two restaurants are located just 4.8 miles away from each other.
Los Angeles Police Department told CBS that they had yet to receive a police report from The Kickin' Crab for Sunday's incident, though they would like to investigate further to determine if any connections did actually exist between the two crimes.