Police are currently searching for two armed assailants who made off with an alleged $100,000 worth of jewelry and other items after an armed robbery Tuesday at a downtown Los Angeles Hotel.
The two assailants threatened three victims at gun point before relieving them of their belongings and fleeing into a black, late-model BMW, My News LA reported.
Although the assailants were armed, there were only minor injuries reported during this attack, CBS Local reported. RELATED: Crime Spikes And LAPD Tells Los Angelenos, ‘Just Be A Victim’)
The LA Police Department Chief Michel Moore announced creation of a task force to address a string of “follow-home robberies,” however, they do not think this robbery is connected to these robberies, CBS Local reported.
2021 Crime Statistics from the Los Angeles county Sheriff’s office: pic.twitter.com/OyjrZ1nZCV
— Kyle Kashuv (@KyleKashuv) December 4, 2021
This event follows reports of a spike in crime within LA which has even leaked into the wealthy areas of the city. According to the LA County Sheriff’s office, homicide is up 74.81% and unlawful shooting up 73.5% compared to 2019. Arrests are down 33.91%. These numbers appear to fall in line with the increase in ‘follow-home’ crimes, a string of smash-and-grab robberies in Los Angeles and San Francisco along with retail theft that has left Southern California reeling.
Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom has come out saying that he has “no empathy” for local officials being soft on crime. San Francisco has rolled out a “Dream Keeper Fellowship” which will pay a select 10 people, who have prior arrests or are likely to be involved in criminal activity, to be trained as “community ambassadors.” They will pay the people $300 a month.
White House Press Secretary, Jen Psaki said on Thursday that the pandemic was the “root cause” of the spike in violent crime across the country.
“When a huge group of criminals organizes themselves and they want to go loot a store… until the shelves are clean, you think that’s because of the pandemic?,” Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked.
“I think the root cause in a lot of communities is the pandemic, yes,” Psaki said.