Robbery Suspect Cuffed, Delivered ‘Like a C.O.D.’

Los Angeles police are calling it “true love”--and also a nice piece of law enforcement work.

But detectives in the Van Nuys Division are the first to admit they should not receive any credit for the arrest Friday of a Sepulveda man who, they say, is suspected of at least three recent armed robberies in the San Fernando Valley.

The man, Alfred Timmons, 23, arrived at the Van Nuys police station at about noon, wearing a pair of antique handcuffs and glumly sitting in the back of a van, Detective Bob Horowitz said. Shortly before, he had been seized in Pacoima by the wife of another man who is suspected of being Timmons’s partner in the robberies, Horowitz said.

“She just dropped him off like a c.o.d. package and said, ‘Here he is, do you guys want him?’ ” the detective said. “We said, ‘Thank you, ma’am. We certainly do.’ ”

Timmons was booked on suspicion of robbery and held in lieu of $75,000 bail, Horowitz said.

Police said the story began unfolding Tuesday night when the victim of one of the robberies spotted Michael Bourdeaux, 25, walking along a street in Sepulveda. The victim stopped a passing police car and told officers that Bourdeaux and another man had recently robbed a nearby hamburger stand, Horowitz said.

Bourdeaux was taken into custody and held without bail because of a previous parole violation, police said. He was charged Friday with three counts of robbery stemming from the hamburger stand incident and robberies of a bar and health food store in the Sepulveda area.

Detective Rockey Kennedy said that Bourdeaux’s wife, Rita, was not pleased that only her husband had been picked up, when there had been two suspects in the robberies.

“She decided that if her husband was in jail, by God, so should the other guy,” Kennedy said. “That’s true love for you. She told us, ‘I’ll go find the other guy and straighten this thing out.’ ”

Rita Bourdeaux “put the word out on the street” in Sepulveda that she was looking for Timmons, Detective John Philips said.

And when Timmons showed up at her doorstep Friday morning, Philips said, she was prepared.

Concealing a pair of old handcuffs, she told Timmons to get in her van so she could take him to her husband, who she said was in Pacoima, the detective said.

In fact, Michael Bourdeaux, was in Van Nuys Municipal Court at the time, entering a plea of not guilty to the robbery charges, Philips said.

Rita Bourdeaux drove Timmons to Pacoima, where she spotted two male friends, Philips said. She got out of the van and offered the friends $50 to handcuff the man sitting in the back of her van. Her friends agreed, placed the handcuffs on Timmons and accompanied the van to the police station, the detective said.

“She made a citizen’s arrest and brought him right to us, because she didn’t want her man taking the brunt of the robbery beef,” Horowitz said. “Kind of reminds you of the Old West, doesn’t it?”