Two men who are reputed members of a notorious South Los Angeles street gang were arrested for suspicion of armed robbery in the pistol-whipping last October of occupants of a Laguna Beach home, Laguna Beach police announced Tuesday.
Tyrone Lamont Beasley, 21, was arrested at a South Los Angeles home, while Jyvontaye Demetric Harris, 20, was arrested at Compton court where he was attending a pre-trial hearing on a separate case for possessing a loaded firearm in public, according to police Capt. Jason Kravetz.
When the incident occurred, police said two residents of Laguna Terrace mobile home park were pistol-whipped during a home invasion robbery when armed men entered through an unlocked door. After terrorizing the group, the suspects stole a significant amount of jewelry and were last seen running towards a nearby shopping center, Kravetz said.
Victim Rafael Valladares told the Indy he was watching a movie on television on with friends on a Saturday night when four men, two of them with guns, barged in the unlocked front door not far from Coast Highway.
Police are still trying to identify the other two suspects, Kravetz said, adding, “We do believe we have the two main suspects in custody.”
In November, Laguna detectives developed a lead involving the violent Bounty Hunter Bloods and met with LAPD gang officers and conducted surveillances on gang members, Kravetz said.
During the service of an LAPD narcotics search warrant, one Bloods gang member was found to be in possession of a cell phone stolen during the Laguna robbery, Kravetz said. This break led to the identification of the two primary suspects, he said.
The case culminated with the issuance of two arrest warrants last Friday, April 19, each $500,000 and allege robbery, residential burglary, false imprisonment, use of a firearm during a robbery, and gang enhancements, Kravetz said.
Since this case involves a Los Angeles street gang, with an active gang injunction, LAPD investigators will be involved in the prosecution to offer expert testimony, he said.
[…] victims’ proximity to Coast Highway. Two reputed members of a South Los Angeles street gang were arrested last year in that armed robbery and pistol-whipping of occupants of a mobile home barely off the […]