28 Robberies in Valley and Westside Linked; $280,000 Is Stolen

Bandits believed linked to a series of robberies in which $280,000 in jewelry, furs and cash were taken from the drivers of luxury cars struck in Encino and Bel-Air on the same night and fired several shots at a victim as she attempted to get away, Los Angeles police said Friday.

No one was injured in the two latest incidents on Thursday night. About $38,000 in cash and valuables were taken from three people in Bel-Air in one of the incidents, which police said brings the number of “follow-home” robberies in the San Fernando Valley and West Los Angeles to 28.

In the other incident, a 33-year-old Encino woman foiled a robbery attempt by speeding away in her Mercedes-Benz in a hail of gunfire.

In the series of robberies that began in mid-October, bandits have followed expensive cars, usually Mercedes-Benzes, and confronted the drivers after they parked at their homes, police said. Most of the victims were women who were driving alone in affluent hillside areas of the Valley.

The robbers, who police believe are linked but are operating in at least three groups, have struck five times since Monday, police said. Only twice has there been gunfire, though all of the victims were held up at gunpoint, police said.

“These guys are showing they are potentially very, very dangerous,” Detective Steven Hooks said.

The two latest incidents occurred within 40 minutes of each other, police said. And investigators said they believe, based on victims’ descriptions, that two separate two-man teams were responsible for the incidents.

The first incident occurred at 9:30 p.m., when the Encino woman pulled her car into the garage of her home in the 15700 block of Greenleaf Street, police said. Before the woman could stop her engine, she was confronted by a man with a gun, investigators said.

“She threw the car into reverse and backed out, at which time several shots were fired by the suspect,” Hooks said.

The woman’s car struck another car parked in the street, but she was able to speed away as the gunman fired several more shots at her, Hooks said. None of the shots hit the car, police said.

Hooks said that neighbors, who looked outside their homes after hearing the gunfire, saw the assailant jump into the passenger seat of a light-blue Mercury Merkur and speed away. Police said the same car is believed to have been used in several of the robberies. It was also involved in a brief chase a day earlier in which it eluded a patrol car on Beverly Glen Boulevard south of Ventura Boulevard--near where five of the robberies have taken place, police said.

About 40 minutes after the robbery attempt Thursday, a husband and wife and an elderly woman were robbed at gunpoint after they got out of a Mercedes-Benz in front of a home in the 2000 block of Angelo Drive in Bel-Air, Detective Robert Tapia said.

The robber had gotten out of the passenger side of a yellow or green car that had pulled in behind the victims, Tapia said the victims told police. Jewelry, furs and cash were taken from the victims, police said.

Eight of the “follow-home” robberies have occurred in the West Los Angeles area. Police are investigating whether they are linked to the robberies in the Valley, since they were similarly carried out.

The Valley robberies have occurred from Sherman Oaks to Woodland Hills, with 12 in Encino, police said.

On Dec. 4, a man was shot and wounded at the door of his Bel-Air home after he tried to run from two robbers, police said.