LOS ANGELES, CA — Calling the scourge of increasingly violent follow-home robberies a crisis, Los Angeles police urged witnesses to come forward to help solve the shocking attack of a woman in the middle of a bustling street on Monday. The robbers struck the fleeing woman with their car and robbed her in the roadway in a brutal scene caught on camera.
The attack was just one of five such follow-home robberies in a 48-hour period in Los Angeles this week, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Detectives hope someone can identify two men who chased the woman down in downtown Los Angeles.
The woman was leaving a jewelry store just after noon on Monday and noticed the suspects in a silver Dodge Challenger following her as she made her way to the intersection of Eighth and Francisco streets, near the Harbor (110) Freeway, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
"As the victim approached the intersection... a suspect exited the Dodge Challenger, approached her vehicle, and with an unknown hard tool, shattered her driver-side window," the LAPD reported. "The victim attempted to drive away but was unable due to heavy traffic."
The woman exited her vehicle and ran westbound on Eighth Street seeking help, but the suspects followed her and struck her with the vehicle, knocking her to the ground.
The suspects armed with handguns exited the vehicle and approached the woman following the collision.
"(The) victim immediately removed her watch and threw it on the street," police said. "The suspects retrieved the watch and drove away."
The woman was treated for minor injuries by paramedics at the scene.
The first suspect was described as a man who stands about 5 feet, 11 inches tall who was last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, black sweatpants, white shoes and a ski mask.
The second suspect was described only as a man who was last seen wearing a black sweater and light blue jeans.
Anyone with information on the robbery was asked to call LAPD Detectives Moreno and Vargas at 213-486-6840. Calls made during non-business hours or on weekends can be directed to 877-527-3247.
Anonymous tips can be called in to Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or submitted online at lacrimestoppers.org.
The violent attack was just one of five follow-home robberies reported in Los Angeles in a 48 hour-period, the Los Angeles Police Department told the city's police commission Tuesday.
The phenomenon -- in which police say armed suspects follow victims from restaurants and shopping areas such as Melrose Avenue and the Jewelry District to rob them of jewelry, watches or vehicles was "almost unheard of" before last year, according to Capt. Jonathan Tippet, who leads the Follow Home Robbery Task Force created in November.
In September and October, the department's Robbery-Homicide Division began noticing a pattern of increased robberies involving multiple vehicles and multiple armed suspects coordinating to rob people of high-end vehicles and jewelry, Tippet said.
"In my 34 years in the LAPD, I have never seen this type of criminal behavior in such large groups coordinating to conduct attacks on unsuspecting citizens to take their property and/or vehicles," Tippet told the commission.
The department counted 51 "of these violent, armed robberies" in September and October. The task force -- which includes 18 detectives, 11 investigators from Robbery-Homicide Division, four from the Office of Operations and three from the Detective Bureau -- was created on Nov. 23.
In dealing with follow-home robbery investigations, the task force adjusted the department's usual practice of waiting to identify all people involved in a robbery before making arrests, Tippet said.
"Due to the crisis, we began making arrests as quickly as possible once individuals were identified," he said, adding that was effective in reducing the number of the incidents.
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