BEVERLY HILLS, CA — August 14, 2024 – Two South Americans who were part of a “crime tourism” group were charged Tuesday with stealing a man’s $1 million watch at gunpoint while he dined at a restaurant patio at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The crew had been scouting the victim — and his watch — for two weeks and committed another robbery in Beverly Hills while staying at a Los Angeles Airbnb, prosecutors said. During a search of the Airbnb, officers discovered a gun registered to the notorious former Los Angeles police officer Christopher Dorner, who killed four people before committing suicide in 2013, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Suspect 1– Jamer Mauricio Sepulveda Salazar, 21, of Colombia, is charged with one count of interference with commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act) and one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.
Suspect 2– Jesus Eduardo Padron Rojas, 19, of Venezuela, is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit a Hobbs Act robbery, prosecutors said.
The robbery occurred Aug. 7 at around 6:40 p.m. when the victim was sitting with his wife and 5-year-old twin daughters on the patio of The Blvd restaurant at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, near Wilshire Boulevard and Rodeo Drive, Homeland Security Task Force Officer Thomas Ferguson wrote in court documents obtained by Patch.
One suspect approached the group and pointed a semi-automatic handgun at the victim and pulled back the gun’s slide, chambering a round. While he held the victim at gunpoint and yelled in Spanish, the second suspect approached the man and removed the silver Patek Philippe Emerald Nautilus watch from his wrist, prosecutors said.
The victim, a U.K. citizen and United Arab Emirates resident who was a guest at the hotel, said he feared for his and his family’s lives and let the suspect take the watch without a struggle, according to court documents
The suspects fled the scene on Rodeo Drive and eventually got into a blue Toyota Corolla; Sepulveda served as the getaway driver, prosecutors said. The car was “cold plated” — using a license plate that was not registered to the vehicle. That often suggests the plate is stolen and used to conceal crimes and avoid police attention, according to court documents. Authorities three days later executed a search warrant at an Airbnb where the South American theft group had been staying on Browning Boulevard in Los Angeles: Security camera footage showed the group leaving the night before, according to court documents.
During the search, officers found a Glock 21 .45 caliber handgun in a bedroom that was registered to Dorner, according to court documents. Authorities have not said how they believe the suspects came to possess the gun.
Click here to view the article written by Chris Lindahl.