Sidekicks, punches, holdups: A week in crime in Redondo Part I

Here's Part 1 of the latest Recent Law Enforcement Events report from Redondo Beach police. 

08-18-08 (Monday)

• On Monday, August 18, 2008 at approximately 4:34 p.m., three black males entered the T-Mobile store in the Galleria and stole five "Sidekick" cell phones. The suspects fled into the CompUSA lot, entered a vehicle and left the premises.  The description of the males is very close to another similar crime that coccured on August 17, 2008.

• On Monday, August 18, 2008 at approximately 10:31 p.m., the victim was riding his bike on the Redondo Beach bike path.  As he attempted to pass a group of five male black adults who were blocking the bike path, one of these suspects punched the victim in the head.  The victim fell off his bike and all five suspects began kicking the victim while on the ground.  When the victim finally got up and the suspects left, the victim realized he was now missing his keys.  The victim declined medical treatment after complaining of pain.

08-19-08 (Tuesday)

• On Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at approximately 2:11 a.m., Officers received a call of several taggers spray painting the building located at 2722 Artesia, near the railroad tracks.  As officers were arriving on scene, the suspects / taggers ran on foot in several directions.  Two of the responding officers pursued the suspects on foot but lost one suspect in the area of Grant/Firmona. The suspect disappeared in an unknown direction since he had about a 100 yard head start.  The officers' attention was then focused on capturing other suspects who were possibly hiding in a parked car at 2810 Artesia.  Two suspects were located within a parked van and detained. Officers located numerous items of evidence inside the van, including a camera that contained video and still footage of the suspects doing tonight's graffiti. 

• On Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at approximately 3:26 p.m., a patrol officer was flagged down by a victim who related she was robbed of her cell phone.  The victim was at the beach with some friends, observed a fellow (Parris School) student and had some words. A short time later, a female in a black SUV pulled up, told her not to talk "SH*T" about her sister and grabbed her cell phone out of her hand. The SUV fled and the suspects were not immediately located. 

• On Tuesday, August 19, 2008 between the hours of 10:00-10:20 p.m., three strong arm street robberies occurred on the upper and lower bike paths, between Topaz and Sapphire.  All three appear to have been committed by the same three suspects.