> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Local police look at possible link in three armed robberies - URL: https://www.smdp.com/local-police-look-at-possible-link-in-three-armed-robberies/ - Published: 2002-11-27T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T01:01:15.000Z - Author: Carolyn Sackariason - Tags: Crime, Santa Monica, #archive-import, Homeless *Five armed robberies occur locally in one day* Three armed robberies last week in which the victims were women sitting in their cars have police investigating if the crimes are linked. On Thursday, three women were separately robbed at gun-point within a two-hour period — all by a man who is described to be about 20 years old, black, clean shaven, 5’ 9” tall and about 160 pounds. The robberies began at 6:45 p.m. when Santa Monica police were called to Sixth Street and Ashland Avenue by a woman who said she was robbed of her lap top computer and carrying case when she was sitting in her parked vehicle. She told police that as she was working on her computer, a man approached the driver’s side of the vehicle, produced a handgun and demanded her lap top. Another man, described as looking similar to the first suspect, came to the passenger side, where he grabbed the carrying case as she gave up the computer to the man brandishing the gun. They fled on foot, according to police. At 8:05 p.m., a woman reported that she was held at gunpoint and her purse stolen by a man she describes the same as in the first robbery. SMPD officers responded to the call on the 1100 block of 16th Street. The victim told police that she was talking on her cell phone in her parked car when the suspect approached the driver’s side of the vehicle, displayed the gun and demanded her cell phone and purse. The victim handed over the purse, but not the phone. The suspect fled on foot. The victim estimates there was $10 in the purse and miscellaneous identification. Thirteen blocks away at 8:55 p.m., a woman reported to police that as she was getting into her vehicle, a man described similarly to the suspect in the other two robberies, stole her and her passenger’s purses and cell phones. The man approached the victim at her car on the 2400 block of 16th Street where he brandished a handgun and took off in a older-model four-door white Volvo with the victims’ brown leather bag, a purse and two cell phones, police said. “Those three the detectives are looking at to see if there’s a link,” said SMPD Lt. Frank Fabrega. There were two other armed robberies on Thursday that appear unrelated. The first occurred on the Third Street Promenade between Santa Monica Boulevard and Broadway Avenue in the middle of the day. At 12:30 p.m., police responded to call from the victim who said an hour before, he was approached by a suspect who threatened him with a broken glass bottle. The suspect, described as a white male in his 20s, about 5’ 9” tall with black hair, demanded the victim’s wallet. The victim emptied the contents of his pockets on the ground, which amounted to about $40\. The suspect grabbed the money and took off on foot. The victim chased him until he lost sight of the suspect. At about midnight on Thursday, police arrested a man after he was positively identified as one of two men who robbed an attendant at gunpoint in the parking structure between Santa Monica Boulevard and Broadway Avenue on Fourth Street. Police arrested Lamont Chad Dinkins, 24, of Long Beach, after he was pulled over by police at a gas station at Lincoln Boulevard and Pico Boulevard because his car fit the description of the one that pulled up to the attendant in the parking garage. The attendant positively identified Dinkins as the one who allegedly drove the car up to the booth while a second suspect demanded the cash from the register. The second suspect, who held the attendant at gunpoint and then fled on foot, was not in the car when police pulled Dinkins over. When SMPD arrived at the parking garage at 11:47 p.m., the attendant said he had been robbed. SMPD then broadcast the description of the suspects and the car to other officers on patrol. A SMPD officer located at Lincoln Boulevard and Colorado Avenue followed the white Buick sedan a few blocks before pulling Dinkins over. Dinkins was arrested and booked into the Santa Monica Jail for armed robbery. His bail is set at $50,000\. SMPD investigators are working on possible leads to the other suspect’s identity, Fabrega said. Critics say new building not optimal for homeless *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 27, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/112702.pdf?ref=smdp.com)