4 Charged in ‘Rat-Pack’ Robbery of Liquor Store

Four alleged gang members were charged Thursday with felony counts of robbery and burglary in the “rat-pack” robbery of a liquor store in South Los Angeles. Three juveniles also were arrested and similar charges were filed against them, Deputy Dist. Atty. Joseph Markus said.

Rat-packing, a growing practice among gang members, involves distracting and intimidating a store clerk by a group of youths while their cohorts scoop up merchandise. Several of the suspects surrounded the owner of the store during the April 15 incident, slapping and intimidating him as others grabbed liquor and “whatever they could get their hands on,” Markus said. The owner eventually grabbed a baseball bat and chased the gang out of his store, he said.

Charged were David Cage, 18; Jamie Henderson, 20; Johnny Brooks, 18, and Michael Cooper, 23.