Police: Couple robbed Hancock Park mother of 2 after following her home from the post office
A couple has been arrested in the follow-home robbery of a woman in the Hancock Park area, and the LAPD believes they may have been behind other, similar robberies.
Ashton Dwight Carter, 38, and his girlfriend, 22-year-old Teresa Whitaker, both of Los Angeles, were arrested Tuesday in connection with the May 12 robbery.
According to police, a 42-year-old woman and her two young daughters were returning home from the post office at about 12:50 p.m. as a black BMW 535i stopped in the middle of the street nearby. As the woman was getting her daughters out of their car seats, a man got out of the BMW's passenger seat and walked up to the woman, pointed a gun at her children and threatened to kill them, before turning the firearm on her and demanding her watch, police said.
"She actually was just parking like any other day," said the neighborhood's private security guard. "Next thing you know, a blacked-out car just pulls up behind her and then robs her at gunpoint."
After the woman gave up her watch, surveillance video released by the LAPD shows the man running back to the BMW, which drove away.
"These type of individuals who robbed that lady were very desperate and opportunistic," the security guard continued.
During the investigation, detectives determined the man had been inside the post office the same time as the woman and her children. Video from the post office showed he was paying close attention to the woman, and apparently followed her home from the post office, police said.
At the time of the couple's arrest, a search warrant was also served at Carter's home, where police say they found their BMW 535i, another BMW and a Mercedes. Detectives recovered a semi-automatic handgun, jewelry, and more than $56,000 in cash, but did not find the woman's watch, police said.
Carter, who was out of custody for a prior felony arrest, was charged Thursday with robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, making criminal threats, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Whitaker has been charged with one count of robbery.
According to Los Angeles County sheriff's jail records, Carter is being held on $1 million bail but does not have a scheduled court date. Whitaker is being held on $165,000 bail and is scheduled to be in court Monday.
The event has residents living in the surrounding area shaken and on high-alert, even while doing their day-to-day business.
"Even when I go out and about - going to the market, getting gas - it's on my mind," said James Lee, a Hancock Park resident.
Months ago, a mother was also robbed while walking her baby in a stroller in front of her home, and authorities detailed that similar crimes have plagued the area in recent months.
Since tracking follow-home robberies as a specific crime in 2021, LAPD's follow-home task force has investigated 250 instances, and made 80 arrests.
"There goes the neighborhood," said David Friedman. "When we moved in here about 20 years ago it was a very safe neighborhood. Just see it deteriorating, like on a daily basis."
Detectives believe the couple may be behind other similar robberies which may have gone unreported. Anyone with information about the incident can call LAPD detectives Marsden or Hammer at (213) 486-6840.