Suspects Arrested in Mid-City Armed Robbery Spree
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Los Angeles police detectives Thursday identified and arrested two armed robbery suspects involved in what police say was a crime spree in the Mid-City area.
Detectives last month arrested 18-year-old Jose Roberto Junior Marroquin and Alan Arellano, 20, both Los Angeles residents and suspects in a robbery spree police say began in January, according to an LAPD spokesman.
Police say Marroquin and Arellano randomly robbed victims walking at night in residential areas in the Arlington Heights, Country Club Heights, Hancock Park, Melrose, Mid City, and Wilshire Center neighborhoods of Los Angeles.
A break in the case came when a witness saw one of the robberies on Feb. 7, in which the victim struggled with the armed suspect and yelled for help, gaining the attention of the witness, according to police.
Detectives and parole officers arrested Marroquin at his residence on Feb. 9, where they found an air pistol resembling a Walther PPK pistol, two stolen cellular phones, and narcotics, authorities said.
Marroquin later confessed to committing 10 armed street robberies using the same air pistol that was recovered, according to investigators.
Arrellano was arrested three days later and confessed to being involved in three robberies, police said.
Detectives are asking for the public's help to locate additional robbery victims or witnesses to robberies committed by the above two suspects.
Anyone with information on the suspects or their alleged robberies is asked to call LAPD Detectives Sergio Martinez and Anthony Kong, at (213) 382-9460.
