The West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station has confirmed that two individuals–both female–were arrested for phone thefts at Rocco’s WeHo located at 8900 Santa Monica Blvd., across the street from the LASD WeHo Station. The incident occurred at roughly 1:30am on Sunday morning. A Sheriff Deputy was not able to provide more information during the ongoing investigation.
Rocco’s WeHo describes the phone thefts via their official Instagram @roccosweho:
“Last night one of our dancers observed 2 people who appeared to be pickpocketing cell phones. He jumped off the gogo box, followed them and motioned for our security to detain them. The 2 suspects were arrested and multiple phones were recovered and returned to our valued guests. We are all in this together.
Thanks to our security team for detaining the suspects and for @lasdwesthollywoodstation for responding immediately.
@wehocity is a place for fun not for crime.”
Two individuals, one male, and one female, were arrested at The Abbey Food and Bar on Saturday, December 3, 2022, during the evening nightlife hours.
A video posted on social media earlier this month alleges a theft crew is targeting people in West Hollywood and stealing phones and wallets. The video, which originated from the Instagram account @francofriday, states the same people, five males and two females of Hispanic descent stand on the corner of Santa Monica and San Vicente and pickpocket unsuspecting people, taking cell phones and wallets. “On that corner they pickpocket you. They steal your cellphones, while you’re listening to the guy playing music or waiting to cross the street right in that area,” he said in the video which is getting local news attention. “They grab your cellphones and they put them in a bag. They grab your IDs and your wallet, and they put it in the trash can. Once they put the phones in the trash, one of the girls takes the bag, walks past Revolver and walks to a car and puts in the back seat of a car…”
He said the females grab a key under the hood of the car and put the bags in the back seat. He says he could see the bag full of phones and tried to take a photo.
It is not yet known if the two female suspects arrested at Rocco’s are part of this alleged theft ring.
Hey @WeHoCity @WHDLASD
This is happening every single night in West Hollywood and you are doing NOTHING to stop it.Please share this video and follow Francofriday on Instagram. He is documenting the gangs that are stealing your phones and wallets in Weho#weho #westhollywood pic.twitter.com/ewVqIQu8rD
— Loving WeHo 💖🏳️🌈🌴 (@lovingweho) December 6, 2022
If you see something, say something. Anonymous tips on alleged phone thefts can be called into Crimestoppers at (800) 222-TIPS (8477), or by texting 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S on most keypads) with a cell phone. If you see something, say something. Anyone with information can also drop a tip at https://www.lacrimestoppers.org.
Your identity is always encrypted and anonymous. No personal information, phone number, e-mail, IP address or location is ever requested, saved, traced, tracked or monitored. Period.
The purpose of Los Angeles Regional Crime Stoppers is to prevent and reduce crime, by forming a partnership among the community, law enforcement and the media to offer anonymity and cash rewards to anyone providing information leading to an arrest.
Crime Stoppers encourages members of the community to assist local law enforcement agencies in the fight against crime by overcoming the two key elements that inhibit community involvement: fear and apathy.
Crime Stoppers uses a three-part approach to preventing and solving crimes. The first part of the program is to empower the community by providing a safe way to report criminal activity. Secondly, Crime Stoppers partners with all forms of media in the Los Angeles region to inform the community on how to anonymously report crimes. Law Enforcement is the final part of the triangle; they follow-up on tips from
community members.
West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station polices the City of West Hollywood and the unincorporated communities of Franklin Canyon, Universal City (which includes Universal Theme Park, Studios, and Citywalk), and the Federal Enclave in West Los Angeles.
