Officers Fire 30 Shots, Kill Fleeing Robbery Suspect
Plainclothes Santa Monica police officers shot and killed a man suspected of robbing the same hot tub rental club five times over the past month as he fled from the most recent robbery, authorities said Saturday.
Anticipating another robbery attempt, officers from the department’s crime impact team had been watching Hot Tub Fever, 3131 Olympic Blvd., since Wednesday night, Sgt. Craig Brown said. Just before midnight Friday, the suspect, identified by coroner’s investigators as Jaffar Ghorbanzdeh, 25, robbed the club, which rents hot tubs by the hour, police said.
Officers ordered Ghorbanzdeh to halt as he left the club with money and what appeared to be a handgun, police said, but the suspect started to run. Five of the seven officers staking out the club fired up to 30 shots at Ghorbanzdeh, and the suspect died about 150 feet from the club, Brown said.
The weapon officers saw turned out to be a replica of a .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun, which could not be fired, the sergeant said.
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