Police said an emerald-encrusted Patek Philippe watch worth at least $1 million, stolen at gunpoint from a tourist in Beverly Hills, was found after the arrests of three men in Miami, Florida accused of being involved in organized thefts of luxury goods across the U.S.
The discovery of the Beverly Hills watch followed an investigation into another watch theft that happened in Miami in April, when a man was robbed at gunpoint and his watch, a different Patek Philippe model worth $50,000, was stolen.
Detectives from the Miami Police Department said they identified 25-year-old Yeison Jose Bolivar as the man who committed the April robbery, and on Sept. 5 he and two other men were arrested.
Police said they found the Beverly Hills watch and a stolen rifle and a stolen handgun.
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Bolivar made an initial appearance in court last week and was ordered held without bail. He's expected to return to court later this month to enter pleas to the local charge of robbery with a firearm.
The revelation that the watch stolen in Beverly Hills surfaced in Miami was no surprise to Miami area private investigator David Bolton, who has unique expertise investigating similar thefts.
"I know that a lot of watches are stolen in New York and California and up here because you don't want to be showing the product in the same location as you're stealing it," he said.
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Bolton said thieves who work together to spot, steal, and sell valuable watches often work in loosely organized teams, that troll social media posts and photos for clues to the locations and owners of high-dollar items.
"Well, I think these are organized, disorganized groups. They are groups of people that they know that they can work with. They come together as needed to work together," he said.
The Beverly Hills Patek Philippe, that Bolton said could be worth even more than $1 million, was snatched from the wrist of a British citizen who was dining at a cafe at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on Aug. 7.
An affidavit filed in federal court by a U.S. Department of Homeland Security agent said two other men suspected of carrying out the robbery had been given photos that showed the exact watch they were dispatched to steal.
"These are the 2 watches we are looking for, they are valued at 1.3 million dollars," the men were told, according to the court papers.
The men charged with the Beverly Hills robbery, Jamer Mauricio Sepulveda Salazar and Jesus Eduardo Padron Rojas, were caught by police in Riverside, California after their car was identified by officers in Beverly Hills.
During a search of a short-term rental home allegedly used by the men police said they also found a Glock handgun once owned by ex-LAPD officer Christopher Dorner, who died after a killing spree in 2013.
LAPD Chief Dominic Choi said last month the gun was never one that was issued to Dorner by the Department, but it was still not clear how a gun once registered to Dorner ended up with the accused watch thieves.
