Group of thieves dressed as police rob high-rise apartments in Koreatown

A group of thieves dressed in what victims described as police uniforms robbed a high-rise apartment building in the Koreatown neighborhood early Saturday morning, police say. 

It happened at around 2:40 a.m. at the Nari Koreatown apartment building, located in the 3100 block of Wilshire Boulevard, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. 

Victims told investigators that three men wearing black police-style clothing and masks, and one man wearing a grey sweatshirt and mask, broke into their apartment unit and took off with a large amount of money and jewelry. 

The suspects used a handgun during the course of the robbery, but no one was shot. One of the tenants who was assaulted by the suspects denied medical transport, police said. 

The incident has man living in the area concerned for their own safety. 

 "That's scary, that's scary," said Tim Ahn, who lives in the area. "I don't know, if I approached them or if they came up to me, I don't know what I would do. ... You automatically assume that you know they are the law authority figure, so you kind of do whatever they tell you."

It's just that point that makes Saturday's incident such a serious crime. 

"Impersonating a police officer is serious because it causes people to distrust the police," said Neema Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor. "If someone knocks on your door and you have a doubt as to whether that person is really a police officer or not. That's going to cause all sorts of other problems." 

He says that suspects typically use this sort of disguise in order to catch their victims entirely off-guard. 

"People impersonate police officers to take advantage of someone," said Neema Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor. "Maybe they want to gain entry into someone's home. Maybe they want to defraud someone. Usually it's for a nefarious purpose."

Anyone who knows more about the incident is urged to contact LAPD investigators.