8th Melrose robbery reported
Three young men jumped out of a car to snatch a woman's purse on the avenue near Fairfax High, police say. It's the eighth robbery in the last two weeks.
An eighth robbery within two weeks has taken place in the popular shopping area along Melrose Avenue, authorities said today.
Around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, three young men jumped out of a car and snatched a purse from one of two women walking together in the 500 block of Genesee Avenue near Fairfax High School, said Officer Ana Aguirre of the Los Angeles Police Department.
The suspects got back into the car, a silver Chevrolet Malibu, and fled the scene, Aguirre said.
"The incident seems to be meeting same the criteria but we're not sure if it's the same group as suspected in previous robberies," Aguirre said, noting that in Wednesday's incident, the suspects were unarmed and it took place in broad daylight unlike the previous seven robberies.
Residents who live in and around trendy Melrose Avenue have launched a campaign to warn neighbors and visitors to take precautions in response to the crime spree.
As many as three robbers, working individually or sometimes together, confronted victims, flashed a gun and demanded money, said Sgt. Ruby Malachi of the Los Angeles Police Department.
Most of the crimes have taken place late at night or in the early morning in the Melrose Avenue corridor between Fairfax and La Brea avenues.
No one has been hurt in the holdups, in large part because the victims complied with the robbers' demands, police said.
But Malachi said the LAPD was concerned that the robbers, emboldened by their success, could escalate their violence.
The first robbery was reported Aug. 8; the latest on Wednesday.
In one incident, an employee of Louise's Trattoria restaurant was walking to his car after work at 10 p.m. Aug. 13 when he was confronted at gunpoint by a man who appeared from behind a tree in the 700 block of North Gardner Street.
The robber demanded the victim's wallet and asked if he had anything else of value. The victim called police from work.
Paul Lerner, a co-coordinator of Melrose Action Neighborhood Watch, said his group immediately got the word out to neighbors via its website, as well as through fliers distributed to local businesses, warning workers and customers about the crimes.
The Neighborhood Watch group was formed after the fatal stabbing of 70-year-old Katan Khaimov in March.
Lerner said the group enlists block captains, communicates more directly with police officers and issues e-mail alerts.
Even with the latest spate of crimes, armed robberies in the LAPD's Hollywood Division, which includes the Melrose Avenue corridor, are down nearly 18% so far this year compared with the same period in 2007.
During the same period, overall serious crime is down 12%, the largest such decline among the LAPD's 19 divisions.
Anyone with information about the robberies is asked to call Hollywood Division detectives at (213) 972-2932.
"As with any crime, the first priority is safety and to report it immediately," Malachi said.
She urged people who witness such crimes to note any descriptive features, such as clothing or type of vehicles used.
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