Police believe a group of masked teens 18 and younger is responsible for a string of car thefts and at least 20 robberies – two of which resulted in people being shot – in three Los Angeles County cities.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said some five people have been arrested thus far, but they believe as many as 20 are involved. The group is tied to at least 20 robberies in Lancaster, Palmdale and Los Angeles.
“So far, since April 12, we’ve connected them to at least 20 robberies, many of those businesses. A couple of those are street vendors. At least one is a carjacking of a woman just sitting in her car in a Walmart parking lot,” LASD detective Benjamin Casebolt said.
In addition to all the robberies, detectives say the group has worked together to steal more than 150 cars, mostly Kia and Hyundai sedans.
Get top local stories in Southern California delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC LA's News Headlines newsletter.
“It appears to be a crew of young males. The MO is the same. They are stealing cars and using those cars in robberies. And once they are done with the robbery, they’ll either leave it sitting in a street or they’ll even sell it to a tow yard or someone who’s willing to buy without looking into the validity of the car,” Casebolt said.
In just the month of May, the group is thought to have hit several businesses in Lancaster, including a gas station and liquor store on Beeches Avenue, another gas station at 4th Street and Avenue L, and a Pizza Hut on Avenue K.
The sheriff’s department is urging the public and business owners to be alert and to call police of they notice any suspicious activity.
