Drug Store Robbery Caught on Tape

Los Angeles: Detectives are asking the public’s help in identifying two men who robbed a Wilshire-area drug store on September 3, 2006. The robbery was captured on a surveillance tape.

A Black man walked into the Rite Aid drug store on Crenshaw Boulevard just after 9 PM, armed with a gun. He met up with another Black man, already inside, who was posing as a customer. Both men took over the store. The man who posed as the customer, ordered the customers to the floor while his accomplice ordered the manager to open a safe in a back room.

The suspects got way with $4,000 from the safe and the cash registers. No one was injured in the robbery.

Both suspects were over 6 feet tall. The heavier one was about 24 years old, and the second suspect was about 18 year old.

One suspect wore a black shirt that read on the back: "HUSTLE; GET PAID; LIFE."

"If someone does not recognize the robbers’ faces, maybe they’ll recognize the shirt," said LAPD spokesman Lieutenant Paul Vernon. "The crime seemed to reflect the crook’s philosophy."

Anyone with information about this robbery is asked to call Wilshire Detectives at 213-922-8217. After hours or on weekends, call the 24-hour toll free number at 1-877-LAWFULL (1-877-529-3855).

Media Relations Section has DVD copies of the robbery available, or outlets may record the robbery footage from a monitor at the Media Relations office.