A tailgating robbery occurred at an upscale condominium in LA Koreatown.
A Chinese (or Chinese-American) man was assaulted and robbed in the parking lot of the six-story condominium at 6th and South Berendo Streets at around 4:50 p.m. on April 7.
Security camera footage obtained by the Korea Daily shows the gate to the condominium’s parking garage opening, with a Porsche entering, soon followed by a Jeep.
Three masked robbers then emerged from the Jeep and approached the Porsche driver, who had reached the second level of the parking garage. They pointed a gun at him and threatened him.
When the man retreated, two robbers seized him by the back of the head, assaulted him, and pistol-whipped him, while the third robber searched the man’s car and stole items. The victim struggled with the robbers.
In the video, the victim, bleeding from the head and with his top half torn off, stands in front of the elevator and presses the button to go up. However, the three robbers soon followed, slapped him on the cheek, and threatened him.
The robbers reportedly fled when a Korean-American security guard, Keun Beom Yoo, who had checked the security cameras and rushed downstairs, shouted at them.
“The security guard in charge realized the situation and hurried downstairs with an expandable baton,” said Andy Kim, president of Pan Am Private Patrol. “The guard did a good job. If he hadn’t been checking the monitor, I don’t know what would have happened,” added Kim.
Yoo initially thought it was a fight between the victim and a friend who followed him, but he quickly realized what was happening and responded, according to Kim. It wasn’t until he got down to the scene that he realized the robber had a gun, he added.
“The robbers took away the victim’s cell phone in the incident, and the suspects also tried to take his watch, but he resisted and refused to give it to them,” Kim noted. “The victim’s injuries are not serious, but he is in the hospital being treated.”
The victim, described as a Chinese (or Chinese-American) man in his 30s, had no history with the suspects and was reportedly assaulted on his way home from Costco.
The suspects, believed to be men in their 20s and 30s, fled in a Jeep.
The condominium where the incident occurred consists of 77 units, and more than 90 percent of the residents are Koreans (including Korean-Americans).
According to Kim, the condominium has experienced several burglaries, but this is the first time that a tailgating robbery has occurred.
Meanwhile, the Olympic Police Station, which covers Koreatown, was found to be the most frequent location in Los Angeles for tailgating robbery.
According to LAPD statistics, the Olympic Police Station recorded 247 cases of “Suspect follows victim/follows victim home” from Jan. 1, 2023, to April 2, 2024. This is significantly more than the following three police stations, Southeast and Central (92 cases), and 77th (80 cases).
Assault with a deadly weapon was the most frequent type of crime reported to the Olympic Police Station, with 57 cases. Aggravated assault robbery also recorded 16 cases.
There were also 50 cases of simple assault (Battery), 22 cases of brandishing a weapon, and five cases of attempted robbery.
BY SUAH JANG, JUNHAN PARK [jang.suah@koreadaily.com]
