Two men and two teenage boys were arrested for allegedly assaulting a 79-year-old woman during an armed robbery in Santa Monica, police said Wednesday.
According to Santa Monica police, four male suspects in a Kia sedan that had been previously stolen in Long Beach assaulted the woman and stole her purse 9:50 p.m. Tuesday in the 1200 block of Lincoln Boulevard. The suspects, at least one of whom was armed with a handgun, fled the area in the Kia, but a witness was able to provide a description of the vehicle and the license plate.
Officers spotted the vehicle being driven recklessly, but the driver initially failed to pull over, prompting a brief pursuit that ended at 11th Street and Wilshire Boulevard when the driver lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a pickup.
Two suspects were immediately taken into custody after the crash. A third was found hiding in a carport in a nearby alley, police said. The fourth suspect managed to enter an occupied apartment in the 1200 block of 11th Street, but the resident forced the suspect out, police said. That suspect was later found hiding on the roof of the building by an assisting Los Angeles Police Department helicopter crew.
Detectives retrieved a firearm in the area, police said.
The woman who was assaulted was taken to a hospital in unknown condition.
Police said the occupants of the pickup that was struck by the suspects’ vehicle sustained minor injuries. It was unclear if any of them were taken to a hospital.
Detectives identified the suspect as two 17-year-old boys — whose names were withheld due to their age — along with 24-year-old Kejon Stevenson and 19-year-old Jacob Pugh, all Los Angeles residents. The were all booked into the Santa Monica jail on suspicion of various offenses.
Anyone with additional information regarding the assault was urged to contact SMPD Detective Hector Tavera at Hector.Tavera@santamonica.gov or Detective Sgt. Ryan Gradle at Ryan.Gradle@santamonica.gov. The watch commander can also be reached at 310-458-8427.