Hollywood’s Roaming Robbers

Band of robbers in Hollywood Boulevard

Tuesday night a band of robbers tore through Hollywood Boulevard. Police believe these are the same juveniles who broke off from the Zimmerman protest in the Crenshaw district and attacked people earlier this week. Los Angeles Police Department’s Sergeant Johnson said “I think this specific group came up to riot and cause problems in Hollywood, they were not engaging in any kind of protest.” Police believe that the crime spree that took place in Hollywood Boulevard involved as many as fifty robbers. A dozen people were arrested on Tuesday in relation to the band of robbers, out of the dozen in custody, eleven are juveniles and only one is an adult. Police Captain Dennis Kato told The Los Angeles Times that police began receiving calls around 9 p.m. regarding dozens of juveniles roaming around Hollywood Boulevard attacking innocent people. The robbers knocked over tourist and took anything they could get their hands on, including cell phones and purses. Victim Gordon Larson said “One kid came up with his hand in his bag and said he was going to shoot me if I didn’t give him my phone.” While many people were targeted, none of the victims involved were seriously injured. Police believe that the robbers knew each other, stating that they appeared to be an organized group. The juveniles would split into smaller groups consisting of 10 through 15 people, regrouping at times. According to LAPD Captain Dennis Kato more than 110 police officers came in from other LAPD division in order to track down the group of robbers. The robbers didn’t just stop after robbing people, they allegedly also took items from stores, including a cash register that was reported stolen during one of these incidents. Police believe that many of the people involved in these robberies were also involved in the violence that took place earlier this week during the Zimmerman protests and they expect additional victims to come forth, helping to connect the dozen currently arrested to other crimes that took place this week.