Suspect in ‘Bump-and-Rob’ Auto Thefts Seized

A Los Angeles man has been arrested in connection with several “bump-and-rob” thefts of expensive cars driven by affluent-looking women with no passengers, Los Angeles police said.

Most of the auto thefts occurred in the San Fernando Valley over a one-month period.

Michael Lee Burton, 28, was booked on suspicion of grand theft auto, robbery, parole violation and possession of cocaine, Lt. Ron Lewis of the Police Department’s Robbery-Homicide Division said Wednesday.

Lewis said a break in the case came late Tuesday night, when Officer Al Green, patroling the Wilshire District, recognized a 1984 silver 500 SEL Mercedes-Benz reported stolen Monday from Beth Weitz of Pacific Palisades.

Very Polite

Weitz, 44, later told police that her Mercedes was hit and stolen Monday afternoon on Berkeley Street in Santa Monica by a man matching Burton’s description. He was driving a red, 1987 Cadillac and was well dressed and very polite, she said.

Green and backup officers attempted to stop Burton and his two passengers, but police were led on a 10-minute chase before the Mercedes collided with a taxi cab and crashed into two fire hydrants near La Brea Avenue and Washington Boulevard. No one was injured.

Police said they found some cocaine in the car. Neither of the two passengers in the stolen car was arrested.

Burton had been convicted three times for felonies ranging from auto theft to forgery, state Department of Corrections records showed.

Los Angeles police and the California Highway Patrol had been investigating the bump-and-rob auto thefts, which numbered about 30, for nearly a month.

Lewis declined to say whether Burton is a suspect in all of the cases. He also would not comment on earlier reports that there may have been as many as three robbers.

Inspect Damage

Lewis said the incidents generally followed the same pattern: A thief driving an expensive-looking car would rear-end another luxury car driven by a woman. When the woman got out of the car to inspect the damage, the man would leap into her car and drive off with it, often with the woman’s purse still inside. The thief then would use her car to repeat the process.

An earlier victim was actress Morgan Fairchild, who had her Jaguar stolen on Ventura Boulevard in Studio City.

Burton, who was paroled from the California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo on Feb. 6, was jailed without bail.