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5 teens arrested after doughnut shop robbery spree in La Mirada, Long Beach, Whittier and La Habra

by in News

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies arrested five teenagers suspected in a spree of doughnut shop robberies across several Los Angeles and Orange county cities Sunday morning.

Officials from the sheriff’s Norwalk station said the five were arrested after they matched surveillance camera footage from a La Mirada doughnut shop early Sunday showing a strong arm robbery.

Following the arrests, police from Long Beach, Whittier and La Habra contacted the Norwalk sheriff’s station to say they believed the group was responsible for similar doughnut shop robberies in their cities the same morning.

In La Mirada, the surveillance camera footage showed a group of suspects walking into the shop in the 157000 block of Imperial Highway sometime before 4:24 a.m. After they entered, one of the suspects pretended to have a handgun under his shirt, said sheriff’s Sgt. David McCabe.

The suspects demanded cash from an employee at the shop. The employee opened the register and gave them some cash, after which the suspects all fled.

The statement did not say how much money the suspects got away with.

Sheriff’s officials said the suspects were arrested after a deputy patrolling La Mirada saw them in the area not long after the robbery.

After the five were arrested, they were found in possession of cash that was believed to have been taken from the La Mirada doughnut shop. Officials didn’t say whether any of the cash found was believed to have come from the other doughtnut shops.

The oldest suspect arrested Sunday morning was an 18-year-old from Long Beach. McCabe said he had not yet been identified.

The other four suspects were all 17-year-olds from Long Beach, Carson and Whittier.

McCabe said during the arrests, no handgun was found on any of the suspects.

He said law enforcement officials would continue to investigate whether there was a connection between the suspects and the other  doughtnut shop robberies Sunday morning.