5 Charged In Nordstrom Rack Takeover Armed Robbery
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Five people were charged Tuesday in connection with the takeover armed robbery and hostage situation at a Westchester Nordstrom Rack department store last week.
Troy Hammock, 29, and Everett Allen, 24, pleaded not guilty to 14 counts each of second-degree robbery and one count each of assault with a deadly weapon.
Hammock was held on $780,000 bail, while Allen remained behind bars on $730,000 bail.
Raymond Sherman Jr., 34, the principal suspect, was charged with two counts of forcible rape, one count each of oral copulation, kidnapping for rape and assault with a deadly weapon and 14 counts of second-degree robbery.
He will be extradited from Arizona to Los Angeles by the end of the week.
Rochelle Sherman, 33, and Paula Bradley, 29, pleaded not guilty to one count each of being an accessory after the fact.
Both women were jailed on $25,000 bail.
Hammock, Allen and Sherman Jr. allegedly held 14 Nordstrom Rack employees hostage around 11 p.m. Jan. 10.
"The suspects forced the employees back into the store and held them hostage while the suspects robbed the business," Los Angeles police said in a statement.
A female worker was stabbed in the neck and suffered non-life threatening injuries. Another woman was sexually assaulted.
Three of the hostages were forced to strip naked during the incident, according to KCAL9's Dave Lopez.
In addition, some victims were dragged into a storage room or held at gunpoint.
The male suspects reportedly fled the store, which is located at The Promenade at Howard Hughes Center, before the workers were rescued by a SWAT team the next morning.
All of the suspects were arrested Jan. 12.
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