PUBLIC SAFETY FACILITY — A 17-year-old student in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District was being held in a juvenile detention facility Wednesday after being booked on four counts of robbery, police said.
The teen, a white male who lives in Santa Monica, is believed to be responsible for a string of armed robberies that took place Tuesday in the Pico Neighborhood, said Santa Monica Police Sgt. Richard Lewis.
Investigators are trying to determine if the teen is also responsible for a robbery committed Monday in the 1800 block of Lincoln Boulevard, Lewis said.
The teen was arrested Tuesday around 3 p.m. in the 2000 block of Pico Boulevard after a short standoff at an apartment complex. Officers set up a perimeter and the suspect surrendered without further incident.
Officers went to the apartment building after receiving a tip from witnesses. They told officers that the teen had robbed a victim at knifepoint in front of Eddie’s Liquor on the corner of 20th Street and Pico Boulevard.
The suspect was seen running east into a nearby alley and disappeared into the back of the apartment complex.
No one was injured during the robbery, police said.
During the investigation, officers made contact with victims from three additional robberies that were all committed in the same area just prior to the one at the liquor store.
The teen was identified by all the victims involved and witnesses, police said. Officers collected evidence from the apartment building that included cell phones, iPods and an undisclosed amount of cash, all of which are believed to belong to the victims, Lewis added.
kevinh@www.smdp.com
