Residents in Hancock Park and the surrounding neighborhoods were stunned to learn about the recent robbery of a young mom walking her baby in a stroller right in front of her house. Fortunately, the woman and her baby were unharmed.
The incident occurred on Sunday afternoon around 5 p.m. but most residents found out about it when LAPD issued the following advisory on Tuesday alerting residents and asking for help catching the suspects.
Daytime Robbery in Hancock Park
Hancock Park: Detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department’s Wilshire Division are asking for the public’s help in finding witnesses to assist in this daytime robbery. Detectives have recovered surveillance video which captured this incident in detail.
On Sunday, November 28, 2021, around 5:10 p.m., officers responded to a radio call of robbery suspects just left, in the neighborhood of Hancock Park. The female victim and her infant child were returning home from a walk. As they approached the steps leading to the front door of their home Suspect-1 and Suspect-2 approached them and demanded that she hand over property.
Fearing for her and her child’s safety, the victim complied and allowed suspect-1 to take her diaper bags and bottle cooler.The two suspects proceed to run into a waiting vehicle that was parked across the street from the victim’s home and flee northbound from the location.
The suspect vehicle appears to be a silver sedan with tinted windows.
Suspect-1 is described as a male, Black, 20-29 years of age. Suspect-1 was wearing a light color mask, black hoodie, red sweat pants (with white writing/logo), and white shoes.
Suspect-2 was described as a male, Black, 20-29 years of age. Suspect-2 was wearing a black face mask, gray hoodie, black sweat pants, and black shoes.
It is requested that any individuals who may have observed or have information regarding this incident please contact Wilshire Robbery Detectives.
Anyone with information on this crime is urged to call Wilshire Robbery Detective M. Flores, Serial No.38629, at (213) 922-8217. During non-business hours or on the weekends, calls should be directed to 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (877-527-3247). Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477). Tipsters may also contact Crime Stoppers by texting to phone number 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S on most keypads) with a cell phone.
Hancock Park Homeowners Association President Cindy Chvatal-Keane told the Buzz that she learned about the incident from a television reporter who called her for a comment on Tuesday afternoon. Chvatal-Keane and fellow board member Martin Beck, chair of the association’s security committee, contacted LAPD Wilshire Division, which is currently coordinating with the HPHOA to conduct a virtual town hall meeting on Monday evening (December 6) at 6:30 p.m. Neighbors can register to attend here. Speakers will include LAPD Wilshire Captain Anthony Otero, SLO Dave Cordova, and Terry Seagraves from SSA Security. ADT Security representative Mike Ball has also been invited.
“We want our neighbors to know they can contact our block captains and we can get the word out to the neighborhood using our neighborhood watch and block captain network,” said Chvatal-Keane. “It’s really important that residents know each other so we can help each other make our neighborhoods safer.”
Last week, the Los Angeles Times reported that Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore is “setting up a task force to apprehend follow-home robbers, saying the department has not seen violent hold-ups “like this in decades.”” LAPD is also increasing patrols at local malls and coordinating with other law enforcement to address the recent burglaries at high-end retailers, reported the Times.
Residents have noticed that crime is definitely up in our local neighborhoods and are worried about it. At their annual meeting last month, members of the Windsor Square Association were advised by Senior Lead Officer Joe Pelayo to be careful and aware of their surroundings.
And last night, residents in Fremont Place met online to discuss measures to increase the security in their neighborhood following two recent incidents, one a follow home robbery where the victim was robbed of an extremely valuable watch and other items, and one an individual who walked into the neighborhood and was found in a resident’s guesthouse.
“Fremont Place will be immediately upgrading our security cameras at the front gate to high definition cameras that will record each car’s license plate upon entering and exiting. In addition, the board voted to increase the number of neighborhood patrols provided by SSA from three times a day to 9 times a day,” Fremont Place Association President Cam Davis told the Buzz.
The Melrose area, where much of the activity that is now spilling over into other neighborhoods started, is home to Melrose Action, a business and residents’ group focused on public safety, which will be conducting a candidate forum tonight on the issue. The group has invited all the candidates who are running for the CD5 City Council seat to participate.
According to the organizers, “The forum will have a narrow focus, strictly on crime related to public safety. The event is certainly timely and intimately important to stakeholders that have been hit by a year-long crime wave in and around the mid-city area, especially the Melrose and nearby Fairfax Districts.”
LAPD officials typically advise residents to be watchful and aware of their surroundings during the holiday season, but this year residents need to be particularly alert. If you suspect something, drive to a police station. And if you’re confronted, always surrender personal items and don’t get into an altercation. Also, residences with high gates and hedges often provide a place for robbers and thieves to hide. Wide open yards that are well lit are much safer. Get involved in your neighborhood watch and work together as a community to be vigilant.
At a recent Mid-City West Executive Council meeting, Board President Lauren Nichols basically punted the idea of responsibility to speak out about this type of growing crime issue in the Melrose area to our local neighborhood groups, Melrose Action and Melrose Village Neighborhood Alliance. She mentioned the minor efforts that the Neighborhood Council had attempted such as advertising our neighborhood walks in addition to listing their “Public Safety” committee that is tasked with this crime issue too. Well, for those in the know, the Public Safety committee is bogged down with debate on criminals rights and justice reform. When the topic of Melrose safety comes up, very little is ever accomplished but much is “talked” about (and that’s only when there’s enough members of the “Safety Committee” that show up to make a quorum!) You can view the comments from Lauren Nichols on public safety at the last Exec Committee zoom meeting at this link:
https://bit.ly/3pjnDFp
MidCityWest NC – Stop spending time on issues that don’t support the stakeholders you are supposed to represent and start dealing with the issue of keeping your neighborhoods safe and growing! Neighbors are moving away in droves and all you want to do is write letters in support of dedicated bus lanes on La Brea that will destroy the local small businesses and the need for bike boxes at an intersection in Hollywood? Really???
Just my opinions.