Starbucks Robbery Suspects in Police Custody

Two men suspected in the armed robbery of a Starbucks coffee shop in Hollywood and two possible female accomplices were in police custody Saturday after their capture in an unincorporated area of Florence-Firestone.

The two women, one of whom drove the suspects from the scene in a getaway car, were arrested in connection with the 11:45 robbery of the Starbucks at 6102 Sunset Blvd., at the corner of Gower Street, said Sgt. Mark Ro, watch commander at the Los Angeles Police Department's Hollywood Station.

The men wore masks and one of them brandished a handgun when they entered the store just before closing time, Ro said. The men, he added, then
ordered customers to the floor and demanded cash from a clerk.

The suspects took an undisclosed sum of money from the clerk and also robbed cash and property from some of the customers before fleeing in a waiting Dodge Charger with two women inside, he said.

A LAPD helicopter pilot spotted the car as it headed south on the Harbor (110) Freeway and directed patrol officers to the vehicle, which stopped at a Shell gas station after exiting the freeway at Manchester Avenue, Ro said.

One of the men and the two women were quickly taken into custody, but the other man ran and hid in the crawl space under a house a few blocks away, he said.

He was located by a police dog and arrested around 2 a.m., Ro said. A handgun was located, but Ro wasn't exactly sure where.

The men and women all appeared to be in their 20s, Ro said.

The men would be booked on suspicion of robbery and the woman who drove
the car would likely be booked on suspicion of being an accessory to robbery, he said, adding that it was unclear if the second woman would be booked.

Some of the cash and property taken in the robbery was recovered, Ro
said.

The suspects were not immediately identified by police.

The robbery remained under investigation by the LAPD's Hollywood Division.