Couple Arrested in Hancock Park Follow-Home Armed Robbery

Two people were arrested in the follow-home armed robbery of a woman who was with her two children at the time of the heist in Hancock Park.

The 42-year-old victim was getting her young daughter out of the car at about 1 p.m. May 12 when she was robbed at gunpoint, the LAPD said. The robber had just exited a black BMW sedan that stopped in the street outside her home.

The assailant demanded her watch and threatened to kill her and the children if she did not comply, police said.

Authorities said the family was followed home from a post office.

Ashton Dwight Carter, 38, and his girlfriend, 22-year-old Teresa Whitaker, both of Los Angeles, were arrested Tuesday in connection with the robbery, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

It was not immediately clear whether they have an attorney.

Investigators said video from the post office caught images of Carter inside the building.

Investigators served a warrant at Carter's home and found the BMW 535i, police said. They also found a semi-automatic handgun, jewelry and more than $56,000 in cash, but not the watch taken from the woman, police said.

Police said Carter was on release from a prior unspecified felony arrest. He was being held in lieu of $1 million bail, according to jail records, on charges including robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and criminal threats. Whitaker was being held on $165,000 bail, facing a single count of robbery.

Police said they believe the couple has targeted other victims, and they asked anyone who may have been victimized or has information to contact detectives at 213-486-6840. Tips can also be made to Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or at rhdtipline@lapd.online.

In a separate case in December, a mother pushing her baby in a stroller was robbed by two men who followed her through an open driveway gate at a Hancock Park home.