Hollywood hit by roaming band of robbers, police say
Joel Rubin, Andrew Blankstein and Emily Alpert
LA Times
July 17, 2013
At least 14 people were taken into custody Tuesday night and many more remained at large after marauding bands of young people conducted a string of robberies, assaults and acts of vandalism along Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles police said late Tuesday.
The crimes did not appear to be related to the protests over the George Zimmerman acquittal in the slaying of Trayvon Martin.
Incident commander Dennis Kato said police were inundated with phone calls beginning about 9 p.m., reporting that packs of young people were roaming along Hollywood and attacking people. Public information officer Rosario Herrera said at least one of the attacks was near Hollywood and Highland.
The robbers knocked down tourists and grabbed their phones, Kato said. In at least one incident, they hauled off a cash register from a business. There were no reports of weapons involved in the attacks.
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