6 suspects attempt smash-and-grab robbery in downtown LA Jewelry District
A group of people six people, all dressed in black, attempted to smash display cases with their hands and grab what they could from a tenant at St. Vincent Jewelry Center in downtown Los Angeles.
Tuesday's incident in LA's Jewelry District ultimately failed, but the attempted smash and grab comes on the heels of a significant uptick in these types of robberies over the last two years.
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"The majority of our tenants have the kind of glass that you can't break, so they were not successful," Nejdeh Avedian, the general manager of St. Vincent Jewelry Center told CBSLA.
During Tuesday's incident, employees used the display cases as barriers and fought back, throwing different objects that would be robbers.
Later, one of the suspects was detained by a security guard in a nearby parking lot and was eventually taken into custody by the Los Angeles Police Department.
Avedian said the majority of his tenants at St. Vincent are from other countries and put their entire livelihood on the line for the jewelry they're selling.
"Some of these tenants, they feed three families, so the grandfather, the father and now the son...so, they're not going to just sit there and let people take all this jewelry without doing anything about it," he said.
Though the Jewelry District was established in 1972, Avedian said only in the last two years has there been a surge in smash and grab robberies.
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"Because there's no repercussions for them. Their repercussions is if they get caught, they go to jail and the next day, they're out walking around the streets," he said. "We want police to help us and they are. We're setting up meetings with them. We've been discussing it with them. We just need more help from CD14, from our councilmember, from our government, to help us with these types of things."
CBSLA reached out to Councilman Kevin de León's office for comment, which responded with the following statement:
"I have always said that a key strategy to combat these brazen acts of violence on our streets is increased foot and bike patrols in areas like Downtown LA. That's why I secured $2.5 million in LAPD overtime to be added for Downtown LA - so law enforcement has the resources to ensure officers are on the front lines, closely patrolling our streets and stopping crime before it happens. Without question, increased foot patrols are something that my constituents in Downtown LA had asked for, and this past July LAPD began using the resources I secured for its foot patrol units to tackle crime spikes and allocate resources where needed."
Also asked for comment, District Attorney George Gascón's office released the following statement:
"This is a very troubling crime. Robbery and Attempted Robbery are felonies. We are prosecuting felonies, including robberies, at the same rate as the previous administrations. Our charging rate for Robberies have not changed from that of prior administrations.
If the police apprehend a person for a crime, the police can either give the person a citation to attend court on a date in the future, or they can set bail and the person can pay to be released. This process happens BEFORE the case is presented to the District Attorney's office. If the police do not apprehend anyone, the case is never presented to our office. However, regardless of whether police apprehend a suspect, victims of crime can receive services from our office, including if appropriate restitution for property loss.
If the person cannot afford bail, they appear on court and the judge determines if they are released or preventatively detained."
