Advertisement

Robbers posed as police in Koreatown assault and robbery, LAPD says

Los Angeles Police Department Headquarters
A pedestrian walks past LAPD headquarters in downtown Los Angeles.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
Share via

Three men dressed in “police-style” uniforms and apparently posing as law enforcement robbed a Koreatown apartment early Saturday morning, according to the LAPD.

The men, joined by a fourth accomplice, took an unspecified amount of cash and jewelry from a residence on the 3100 block of Wilshire Boulevard and committed an assault around 2:40 a.m., police said.

LAPD Officer Drake Madison said three of the thieves wore black ski masks and “all-black police-style uniforms” and the fourth wore a gray hooded sweatshirt. At least one carried a black semiautomatic handgun, Madison said.

Advertisement

The thieves fled the scene after the assault and robbery.

When police and paramedics arrived, the assault victim declined an offer to take an ambulance to the hospital, Madison said.

The incident is not the first in recent months in which criminals have worn clothing similar to that of law enforcement officials during crimes. In June, police said two men pretended to be U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, including using fake badges, to gain access to homes in Anaheim before robbing Latino residents.

Advertisement