One of the two men charged with a luxury watch robbery in Beverly Hills had a piston that once belonged to the ex-LAPD officer. The I-Team’s Eric Leonard reports for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024.
One of two South American nationals linked to the armed robbery of a $1 million emerald-encrusted watch from a tourist sitting on the patio of a restaurant at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel pleaded guilty Monday to a federal charge.
Jamer Mauricio Sepulveda Salazar, 22, of Colombia entered a plea in downtown Los Angeles to one count of interference with commerce by robbery, known as a federal Hobbs Act crime, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Sentencing was scheduled for July 14.
A co-defendant, Jesus Eduardo Padron Rojas, 19, of Venezuela currently faces trial next month.
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A mystery lingers over how Sepulveda and his co-defendant allegedly came into possession of a handgun registered to Christopher Dorner, the notorious former LAPD officer who killed four people before dying at the end of a standoff with police 12 years ago.
The suspected robbers are believed to be part of a "crime tourism" group composed of foreign nationals who travel to the United States to engage in high-value theft.
The robbery on the afternoon of Aug. 7, 2024, targeted a watch worn by a British tourist sitting with his wife and two daughters on the patio of the hotel café. Prosecutors said one of the suspects approached and pointed a
black semi-automatic handgun at the victim and pulled back the slide of the handgun, chambering a round.
While the first suspect held the victim at gunpoint, the second suspect approached and snatched the silver Patek Philippe watch, estimated to be worth $1 million, from the victim's wrist, prosecutors said.
The watch was later recovered in Miami following an investigation into a separate watch theft that took place in Florida months earlier.
Both suspects then left the scene and eventually entered a blue Toyota Corolla, with Sepulveda allegedly serving as the getaway driver, according to papers filed in Los Angeles federal court.
Law enforcement executed a search warrant at an Airbnb in Exposition Park where the South Americans were reported to have stayed. During the search, officers found a Glock handgun registered to Dorner. Later that day,
authorities conducted a traffic stop on a Chevrolet Equinox and identified Sepulveda and Padron inside the vehicle, according to court papers.
The U.S. Attorney's Office believes the Equinox was involved in a previous armed robbery in the 400 block of Doheny Road in Beverly Hills on Aug. 5, 2024, during which a $30,000 Rolex was stolen.
It remained unclear how the suspects came into possession of a weapon registered to Dorner, who went on a murderous rampage in 2013 that gripped the Southland. His killing spree claimed the lives of two police officers, along with the daughter of a former LAPD captain and her fiance.
The killings prompted a massive manhunt that ultimately led to Big Bear, where authorities engaged in an extended gun battle with Dorner, who was holed up in a cabin that eventually caught fire and burned to the ground.
Dorner was found dead in the burned-out cabin.
It was unclear if the gun registered to Dorner was the one used in the Beverly Hills robbery, but authorities said no other weapons have been recovered.
