Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore announced Tuesday he is setting up a task force to apprehend follow-home robbers, saying the department has not seen violent hold-ups “like this in decades.”
The troubling trend, which has targeted celebrities and upscale restaurants in recent months, turned deadly in the predawn hours Tuesday when a man was gunned down outside Bossa Nova restaurant in Hollywood.
Moore told the city’s civilian oversight Police Commission he was creating a follow-home robbery task force of more than 20 detectives drawn from elite investigative divisions, including Robbery-Homicide, Metropolitan and specialized gang units, to identify and stop the growing threat to public safety posed by organized groups of criminals.
The department is already investigating more than 100 such robberies in the last few months from areas including the Sunset Strip, Melrose Avenue, the Jewelry District and Westside shopping areas.
Read the full story at LATimes.com.