3 Gang Members Charged With Bank Robbery, Money-Tossing Police Pursuit
SAN FERNANDO (CBSLA.com) — Three reputed members of the Rollin' 40s Crips have been charged Friday with robbing a Bank of America branch in Canyon Country, then leading sheriff's deputies on a wild chase while throwing the stolen money out onto the streets of South Los Angeles.
KNX 1070's Margret Carerro reports Phillip Ely, 29 Lavelle Lee Mosley, 22, and Terion Lamarr Collins, 25, were in San Fernando Superior Court Friday afternoon for arraignment.
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Each of the men face four counts of second-degree robbery and one count of kidnapping to commit another crime. The complaint also alleges street gang and gun use allegations against each of the men.
Ely was also charged with evading an officer and auto theft with prior convictions.
Prosecutors plan to ask for bail to be set at $1.35 million of Ely and Collins and $1.3 million for Mosley.
A fourth, unnamed suspect is still being sought.
An armed robbery at a Bank of America in Canyon Country Wednesday morning led to sheriff's deputies chasing the stolen Volvo SUV into the streets of South Los Angeles. Two suspects jumped out of the vehicle at stops in Sylmar, sheriff's officials said.
One of those suspects was arrested at about 1 p.m., but the second got away.
As the chase wound its way through South LA's narrow, busy streets, a passenger in the backseat began to throw cash out of the windows, drawing bystanders into the streets to scoop up the money.
When the SUV became boxed in by traffic, sheriff's deputies swarmed the vehicle with guns drawn and arrested the two men inside.
The end of the chase drew dozens of residents who had been following the chase into the intersection, prompting police to summon more units to the scene and set up a skirmish line to control the crowd.
Los Angeles police Cmdr. Andy Smith told reporters that the suspects likely threw the money out of the vehicle in an attempt to draw people onto the roadway to block law enforcement officers from capturing them.
"I don't know how much was taken in the bank robbery, but I think pretty much everything they had was thrown out on the streets," Smith said.
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