Carjacking Suspects Arrested

By Lookout Staff

Sept. 26 -- Four juveniles who may be responsible for several carjackings in the Santa Monica area during the past several weeks were arrested Tuesday morning after holding up a woman at gunpoint on a crime-riddled street in the Pico Neighborhood, kidnapping her and then stealing her vehicle, police said.

The victim told police who responded to the scene that she was parking her vehicle at around 7:30 a.m. in the area of 16th Street and Delaware when the suspect approached her and displayed a sawed off shotgun.

The suspect forced her to drive to the area of 16th Street and Olympic where she was released, police said. The suspect left the area in the victim's vehicle.

Several hours later, patrol officers saw the stolen vehicle parked in the 600 block of Kensington Road, said Lt. Frank Fabrega, the police department spokesman. A surveillance of the stolen vehicle was conducted.

"Four juveniles were seen entering the parked vehicle and attempted to drive away," Fabrega said. "The four suspects were taken into custody inside the stolen vehicle without incident."

The sawed-off shotgun used in the carjacking was recovered in the trunk of the vehicle, he said.

Two of suspects arrested were transported to Eastlake Juvenile Hall and two suspects were released to their parents.

The area around 16th and Delaware has been the site of several violent crimes in the past five months. On June 28, police responding to reports of possible gunshots found a 19-year-old Santa Monica man on the 1900 block of 20th Street suffering from gunshot wounds.

Six days later, a report of gunshots fired near 18th Street and Delaware resulted in the discovery of several shell casings by police.

In March, Pico residents summoned police to 17th and Delaware after hearing as many as 11 gunshots in the neighborhood, which had seen a spate of violence. The gunshots came days after two vehicles were shot nearby.

Earlier that month, a man was shot in the torso as he rode his bicycle down Delaware Avenue on a Sunday afternoon.