A group wielding guns, including an assault-style rifle, was captured on video robbing three people in West Hollywood this week.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said the robbery happened around 9:40 p.m. Tuesday in the alley behind La Boheme restaurant. A male armed with what appeared to be an assault rifle, and two females, armed with a handgun, robbed three people of a small amount of cash and hit one of them with a gun, the department said.
Business owner Larry Block, who helps run the website WEHOville, which obtained the video, said it shows crime in West Hollywood remains a big problem. Earlier this month, a woman was shot inside of her apartment complex near the Target store on Santa Monica Boulevard and La Brea Avenue.
“We don’t have confidence in our city officials that they’re putting public safety first,” Block said.
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The crimes has renewed debate over the effectiveness of West Hollywood’s security ambassadors, unarmed people who patrol the streets, in what the city calls a re-imagining of law enforcement with less dependence on sheriff’s deputies.
West Hollywood Mayor Sepi Shyne said that after a post-pandemic surge, violent crime is down in West Hollywood year-to-year.
“We’ve looked at crime trends and what we’ve seen is that more deputies don’t necessarily mean crime is down,” Shyne said.
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She added that the unarmed security ambassadors are not a replacement of sheriff’s deputies and that law enforcement continues to be relied on to investigate crimes.
The mayor said that, right now, West Hollywood has 59 deputies safeguarding the area. Businesses say they want more.
