Gun linked to Christopher Dorner found at alleged crime tourists' Airbnb after Beverly Hills armed robbery
Federal investigators are trying to figure out how a handgun that was once registered to the infamous Christopher Dorner ended up in the possession of alleged crime tourists from South America.
How did law enforcement find the gun?
Law enforcement found the handgun after investigating an armed robbery outside of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on Aug. 7.
The suspects targeted a tourist wearing a $1 million Patek Philippe watch while he was sitting at the hotel's restaurant patio with his wife and two daughters, according to the affidavit released by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Two suspects held the man at gunpoint while they removed the watch from the man's wrist. Afterward, a getaway driver, later identified as 21-year-old Jamer Mauricio Sepulveda Salazar of Colombia, whisked the armed suspects out of the city in a Toyota Corolla.
The Beverly Hills Police Department learned that the crew planned to head to the Arizona border after the robbery, according to Jena MacCabe, the Assistant U.S. Attorney handling the case.
Three days later, officers from the Blythe Police Department arrested two of the suspects, 19-year-old Jesus Eduardo Padron Rojas of Venezuela and Sepulveda, as well as another woman on the I-10 Freeway close to the California-Arizona border. Sepulveda told investigators they were going to Miami to meet with a co-conspirator and get their cut from the stolen watch, according to the affidavit.
The Chevrolet Equinox Sepulveda had been driving when he was arrested was directly connected to another armed robbery that happened on Aug. 5 in Beverly Hills, according to the DOJ. Investigators said CCTV cameras captured the Equinox driving around an Airbnb in Los Angeles.
On the same day officers in Blythe arrested the alleged crew, the Beverly Hills and Santa Monica Police Departments raided an Airbnb where the two men had been staying. Inside, they found a Glock 21, .45 caliber handgun, which had been registered to Dorner.
MacCabe did not confirm that the gun linked to Dorner was used in the million-dollar armed robbery. She added security camera footage from the Airbnb shows Padron holding the same handgun a few days after the armed robberies. It was the only firearm investigators found at the rental.
Sepulveda has been charged with one count of interference with commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act). Rojas has been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act Robbery.
"We suspect that they're involved with other armed robberies out of the state," MacCabe said. "[Homeland Security] are working to get information from other police departments who have been investigating the same robbery crew and co-conspirators"
The DOJ is trying to determine how the handgun ended up in the possession of Dorner's gun.
"We're still trying to figure it out," MacCabe said. "Trying to figure out how this gun from so long ago, somehow came into their possession and was tied up in this violent armed robbery series."
The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said all the weapons they recovered from the Dorner shootout are still in evidence.
Who is Christopher Dorner?
Dorner was the disgraced LAPD officer who became the center of the Southern California manhunt after posting a manifesto on Facebook outlining plans to kill the families of the people he felt wronged him.
Investigators connected Dorner to the killings of an Irvine couple and two police officers in 2013.
The extensive search captivated everyone in Southern California, including law enforcement, especially after then-Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced a $1 million reward for information leading to his arrest and conviction.
The exhaustive manhunt led investigators into the rugged San Bernardino National Forest after residents spotted his truck in the ski resort town of Big Bear Lake. After the breakthrough in the case, law enforcement tracked Dorner to a mountain cabin that eventually burst into flames after a violent gun battle and standoff.
Inside the charred cabin, San Bernardino County deputies found Dorner's remains. The San Bernardino County Coroner's Office later confirmed the identity of the remains through dental records.