Image via WikipediaThis is Breaking News from the Los Angeles Police Department.... Los Angeles:
Monday, May 16, 2011
2:46 p.m.
Three suspects were arrested in connection with a string of robberies that occurred in Wilshire, Olympic and Southwest Areas during the past twelve days. Detectives have also connected two murders that were committed during this time period to two of the suspects arrested.
On Tuesday, May 10, 2011, just after 10:00 p.m., Operations West Bureau Officers were placed on Tactical alert due to a significant number of robberies that had occurred in Olympic Area that evening. Officers were given the suspect’s description and told to “be on the lookout” for the suspects in question. After an exhaustive search, the Tactical Alert was modified, as it appeared the suspects had stopped their notorious activities for the evening. The same suspects were believed to have committed a number of robberies over an eleven-day period. There were also possible links to two homicides that occurred as a result of attempted robberies in the same areas.
On Wednesday, Wilshire Area Senior Lead Officer Spiro Roditis, observed a vehicle matching witness descriptions. The suspects were stopped and detained for questioning. Further investigation revealed the identity of the third suspect who was subsequently located and arrested. Detectives were able to develop information linking two of the suspects to the murder of Marcello Aragon and Gabriel Ben Mier.
Arrested were: Richard Edward Anderson, a 33 year-old Male, Black of Reseda who was booked for 211 PC-Robbery, Destiny Young, a 29 year-old female White, from Los Angeles who was booked for 2 counts of 187 PC, Murder, and Jabaar Vincent Thomas, a 26 year-old, male Black of Los Angeles who was booked for multiple counts of robbery.
The investigation is ongoing and Detectives will be meeting with the District Attorney’s Office to submit their investigations for filing.
Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact Wilshire Area Detectives at (213) 922-8205 or Olympic Area Detectives at (213) 382-9381. During non-business hours or on weekends, calls should be directed to 1-877-LAPD-24-7. Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call Crimestoppers at 800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477). Tipsters may also contact Crimestoppers by texting to phone number 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S on most keypads) with a cell phone. All text messages should begin with the letters “LAPD.” Tipsters may also go to LAPDOnline.org, click on "web tips" and follow the prompts.
Also....this is just released from the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office
LOS ANGELES – A women was charged with murder and robbery and two men charged with robbery by the District Attorney’s Hardcore Gang Division today in a Los Angeles crime spree that left two men dead – one of them an MTV music coordinator.
The defendants were scheduled to appear for arraignment this afternoon in Department 30, Los Angeles Superior Court. They are Destiny Young, 29 (dob 5/27/1981); Jabaar Vincent Thomas, 26 (dob 1/2/1985); and Richard Edward Anderson, 33 (dob 12/3/1977). All were arrested by Los Angeles police detectives earlier this week and remain in custody.
Young was charged in case No. BA 384433 with two counts of murder and six counts of second-degree robbery. Special circumstances of murder during a robbery and multiple murders were alleged.
Thomas was charged with three counts of second-degree robbery and one count of being a felon in possession of a handgun. The complaint alleged that he was convicted of a similar crime (VA 113916) on Feb. 5, 2010. Anderson was charged with six counts of second-degree robbery. The robbery charges carried allegations that the crimes were street gang-related and that a principal used a shotgun.
The complaint filed by Deputy District Attorney Phillip Glaviano, assistant head of the Hardcore Gang Division, recommended that no bail be set for Young. Bail was recommended at $340,000 for Thomas and $725,000 for Anderson. Although charged as a potential capital case, the District Attorney’s Office will not make a decision on whether to seek death or life without parole for Young until the matter moves closer to trial. The complaint alleged that the murders and robberies occurred in mid-town Los Angeles, including Koreatown and the Wilshire section, between April 27 and May 10 of this year. The defendants were arrested on Wednesday after an extensive Los Angeles Police Department investigation. Both murder victims were killed by shotgun blasts, authorities said. Gabriel Ben-Meir, 30, the MTV music coordinator, was killed on May 8 after parking his car outside his Wilshire area home. The first victim, Marcelo Aragon, 35, was killed on April 30 in the Pico-Union section between the Wilshire area and downtown Los Angeles.
