University police arrested three suspects responsible for a recent series of robberies in the North Village Tuesday evening.
The three suspects, 18-year-old Frederick Christmas, 20-year-old Daniel Lucie and 19-year-old Alyssa Barrows, were booked for several counts of robbery, said Nancy Greensteon, a UCPD spokeswoman.
The suspects were taken into custody at 5:30 p.m. on the 600 block of Landfair Avenue.
None of them are UCLA students.
The suspects were caught after detectives in unmarked police cars spread out around Westwood.
“We had them saturate the areas where they had occurred last, and (we caught the suspects) with a little bit of luck and a little bit of experience,” said UCPD Sergeant Robert De Francesco.
He said officers witnessed a robbery in progress, after which they were able to capture and detain two of the suspects, Christmas and Lucie.
Barrows was apprehended after a short pursuit in Structure One, Greenstein said.
“Our detective division observed the robbery in progress and arrested them,” said Terry Brown, a UCPD detective.
Brown said university police officers caught the suspects in the act.
After the suspects were apprehended, prior robbery victims were asked to verify the identities of the suspects.
“The victim shows up and we tell them “˜this may or may not be the people,’ and we advise them,” De Francesco said.
“And they tell us these are positively the people.”
He said the victims’ descriptions of the suspects matched almost perfectly, and the suspect vehicle and license plate matched a vehicle used in a robbery on Oct. 1.
“We’re sure it’s the same people,” De Francesco said.
University police was also able to confirm the suspects’ identities by recovering previously stolen property, Greenstein said.
Several victims of the latest North Village robberies were contacted in order to identify the suspects.
University police officials said they believe the three suspects are responsible for at least 13 robberies in the Westwood area, all of which occurred since Oct. 1.
Brown said the arrested robbers were responsible for robberies accounted for both by UCPD and the Los Angeles Police Department.
The case is being submitted to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office for review, Greenstein said.
But even though these robbers have been taken into custody, students should still be careful, Brown said.
There has been a trend of campus robberies at colleges and universities recently.
“I think students still need to take precautions because there are continuing robberies around the area,” Brown said. “I talked to Santa Monica, Culver City, USC (police departments), and they’ve had their own series of robberies.”