Two suspects arrested in Venice after series of armed robberies
CITYWIDE — Police said they have arrested two men believed to be responsible for four armed robberies within a four-day span that occurred throughout the city last month.
Joshua Eli Raff, 19, of Santa Monica, and Casey Gerald Bowen, 21, of West Los Angeles, were arrested on May 21 by LAPD after they were pulled over at Ruth and Dewey streets in Venice, said Santa Monica Police Lt. Frank Fabrega. They have been charged with possession of a firearm and multiple armed robbery charges in Los Angeles and Santa Monica, Fabrega added.
On one of the suspects, police found the driver’s license of a victim who was robbed at gunpoint on May 21 in the 1000 block of 16th Street, which is between Washington and California avenues in Santa Monica.
The duo allegedly began their spreethree days earlier when a man was robbed at gunpoint in the 100 block of Ashland Avenue at about 12:54 a.m. on May 18. The victim told Santa Monica Police officers that he was walking home when a suspect approached him, displayed a gun and demanded his wallet. The victim complied and gave him his wallet, which contained $60. The suspect then ran off.
About 30 minutes later, another man was held at gunpoint in the 900 block of Second Street at 1:25 a.m. The victim said a man walked up to him, displayed a gun and demanded money. He took an undisclosed amount of cash and fled on foot.
The following day, May 19, another robbery occurred in the 700 block of 10th Street at 1:51 p.m. The victim was sitting in his car when a suspect approached the passenger side,displayed a gun and demanded his wallet. The suspect took off with $24, Fabrega said.
On May 21, the two robbers struck again, this time on 16th Street. At 8:38 p.m., SMPD officers responded to the 1000 block, where the victim told them a man approached him from behind while he was walking, demanded money and fled with an undisclosed amount of cash.
About two hours later, LAPD called SMPD officers to inform them that they had arrested Raff and Bowen, linking them to all four robberies. At about 10:30 p.m., LAPD officers attempted to stop the suspects’ vehicle in Venice, but before they stopped, they sped up and officers watched one of the suspects throw a gun out of the window, Fabrega said. The gun was later recovered.After conducting a search, officers found the victim’s driver’s license in the suspects’ possession.
Three of the robberies were north of Wilshire Boulevard. Raff lives in the 1000 block of Third Street, in the same neighborhood, police said.
Unrelated to the robberies to which Raff and Bowen are allegedly connected, an attempted armed robbery took place on May 16 in the 200 block of Montana Avenue. A woman told police that as she was walking on the sidewalk just before 8:30 p.m., a black man in his 40s wearing a trench coat pulled a gun on her and demanded her purse. She refused and the suspect ran off. The suspect was described as five feet, 10 inches tall and 150 pounds.
Anyone with information is asked to call the SMPD’s robbery unit at (310) 458-8451.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 2, 2006. Read the original PDF.