Violent crime up 90% in Culver City

Culver City is dealing with a spike in crime that includes three armed robberies in as many days.

According to Culver City police, there has been a 90% increase in crime in 2021 and 2022, compared to numbers from 2018 and 2019. Because of the pandemic, 2020 was not included in those crime statistics.

The latest armed robbery happened Sunday at a Boost Mobile store on Centinela and Washington. In this incident, a suspect in a blue hooded sweatshirt, blue sweatpants, a white mask, and blue surgical globes came into the store and pointed a black semi-automatic handgun at two Boost Mobile employees and ordered them to lay face down. He then grabbed about $500 from the cash register and ran away.

Police say the suspect dropped a set of car keys, which led to a possible suspect vehicle parked about a block away. Officers saw clothing worn by the suspect in the rear seat, and tracked him down as they continued searching the area. The suspect was identified Monday as 37-year-old Lawrence Bell, a parolee wearing an ankle monitor from Torrance. 

On Saturday, an employee at a Rite Aid store on Culver Center reported a suspect approached her with several items in his hands, then pulled out a black handgun, put it on the counter, and demanded cash from the register. The day prior, a person wearing a black ski mask came into a Subway at 3817 Sepulveda Boulevard and ordered a sandwich. Once he got the sandwich, the customer pulled out a black handgun and demanded cash. The frightened Subway employee filled the suspect's bag with $200 to $300, police said.

One woman who has lived in Culver City since the 60s says she has never seen crime this bad in her neighborhood.

"To me, I think it's the worst," she said. "You're afraid to go out sometimes, different places, because you don't know what's going on."