Crime Spree May Be Linked to Same 3 Men

In a wave of similar incidents Sunday night in La Palma and nearby Cerritos that law enforcement officials believe may be related, three men brandished a submachine gun, assaulted a couple, robbed a man and raped his female companion, then ran their car into a woman on a bicycle.

The crime spree began shortly after 10 p.m. in La Palma, when three men dressed in long overcoats assaulted a 21-year-old man and a 16-year-old woman at the corner of La Palma Avenue and Walker Street, a spokeswoman for the La Palma Police Department said.

One of the men threatened the couple with a submachine gun similar to an Ingram Mac-10, the spokeswoman said. But before they could do anything more, she said, the men were frightened away by a crowd of pedestrians and sped off in an unidentified vehicle.

About 20 minutes later, three men brandishing a semiautomatic weapon robbed an 18-year-old couple at Cerritos Regional Park at 195th Street and Bloomfield Avenue, according to Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Tom Laing. Laing said the men took the couple’s money and jewelry, then made the man lie face down while they raped the woman.

A few minutes after that, Laing said, three men with a submachine gun tried to force a woman on a bicycle at 183rd Street and Palo Verde Avenue, a few miles from the park, into their car. When the woman refused, they hit her with their car. The 26-year-old woman, who suffered minor injuries, was treated at a local hospital and released.

Laing said officers have no suspects, but are searching for a gray mid-’60s Chrysler they think was used in the incidents.