A suspect in an armed robbery at an ice cream shop on Western Avenue in Los Angeles Koreatown has been arrested.
The armed robbery took place at Ora Ora, an ice cream shop near the intersection of Western Avenue and 1st Street, at around 9:50 p.m. on July 14.
According to the security footage provided by the store, there was one employee inside the store at the time of the incident, who was closing up shop. At that point, the robber, who was dressed all in black and covered his face with a black helmet and mask, entered the store and pulled a handgun from his pants.
He pointed the gun at the employee, threatened him, demanded money, and took $200 in cash from the register before fleeing. The entire incident took place in less than two minutes.
“Officers responded to the call at approximately 10:05 p.m.,” the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) public information office said in a statement, “and shortly thereafter, officers apprehended the suspect near the intersection of Western Avenue and 2nd Street, about a block from the store. The suspect was a white male, wearing a ski mask over his face and all black clothing and was armed with a gun.”
“We heard about the robbery from the officers who came to the store immediately after hearing about the robbery and were told that the suspect had been arrested by the officers,” Alan Hwang, owner of Ora Ora, said in a phone call with the Korea Daily on July 16.
“Our employee who was in the store at the time confirmed with the officers that the suspect was the robber. The suspect came into the store with 10 minutes left before closing time, so it seems that he was familiar with the store operation.”
Hwang said he and his business have been preparing against the robbery after the recent increase in violent crimes in Koreatown. “The damage was small because we had deposited cash in advance,” he said.
There were no casualties in the incident. “We had trained our employees in preparation for such incidents. We told them not to fight back or do anything reckless, but to do what the robber says,” said Hwang. Thanks to this, the ice cream store’s closing staff who was there at the time of the incident was able to react calmly and avoid any loss of life.
Industry officials believe that the suspect arrested in this case is the same as the suspect in the armed robbery of a Koreatown bakery Coin De Rue on June 25. Ora Ora and Coin De Rue are located in the same plaza.
“The robbery is very similar to the one that occurred at Coin De Rue and the suspect’s description is almost identical,” said Hwang. ”The police also told us that it is similar to four or five recent armed robberies along Western Avenue, including the one at Coin De Rue.”
The Korea Daily contacted the LAPD’s public information office to confirm whether the same suspect committed the robbery at Coin De Rue bakery and one at Ora Ora but had not heard back as the investigation is ongoing.
BY KYEONGJUN KIM, HOONSIK WOO [kim.kyeongjun1@koreadaily.com]
