A victim was robbed at gunpoint in Beverly Hills, allegedly by three men and two teenage boys who were all taken into custody after initially eluding law enforcement in a vehicle pursuit, police said Friday.
The robbery occurred around 4:50 p.m. Thursday in the 8600 block of Wilshire Boulevard near La Cienega Boulevard, where five suspects approached the victim and at least one of them produced a handgun as the assailants demanded the victim’s Rolex watch, according to Beverly Hills Police Department Lt. Andrew Myers.
Myers said a Beverly Hills city employee witnessed the crime and notified police.
Investigators were able to identify and locate the suspects’ vehicle, but the driver refused to pull over, sparking a short pursuit.
According to Myers, a Los Angeles Police Department helicopter crew aided in the chase and followed the vehicle into Hollywood, where the suspects exited the car near Afton Place and North El Centro Avenue.
“BHPD officers and officers from the LAPD Hollywood Division quickly established a containment. After the search, all five suspects were arrested, and evidence related to the crime was recovered from the vehicle,” Myers said in a statement.
Investigators identified the suspects as 18-year-old Xavier Ford, 23-year-old Gangster Lawson, and 18-year-old Nasir Blocker, all of whom are residents of Oakland. The two teens — 16 and 17 — were not identified due to their ages.
Ford and Lawson were booked on suspicion of assault with a firearm and conspiracy, while Blocker was booked on suspicion of robbery, police said.