Police Warn Drivers to Watch for Thieves

Police in several West San Gabriel Valley cities are advising drivers of Mercedes-Benz 300 series automobiles to take extra precautions, due to a wave of armed robberies over the past two months.

In each case, police say, the cars were taken at gunpoint or knifepoint from drivers who had been followed home or to a dimly lighted parking lot, usually in the evening. Sometimes the attackers ordered the driver to hand over money or jewelry before speeding away in the Mercedes. There were no injuries.

Most of the robberies--which primarily targeted Asian Mercedes drivers--are believed linked to Vietnamese gangs that have committed “follow-home” robberies of Asians at their residences, police said.

But they noted that non-Asian criminals also are seeking out Asians victims because of the perception that they may carry large amounts of cash and valuables and have difficulty identifying suspects.

“They’re seen as extra-easy victims,” Monterey Park Police Chief Dan Cross said.

Investigators in Alhambra, Arcadia, Monterey Park and Pasadena--where Mercedeses have been reported stolen-are meeting to share leads and information, officials said.

In Monterey Park, the trend and an increase in other types of robberies prompted the city to change some earlier patrols to between 2 p.m. and 2 a.m. The crimes have been of particular concern in Monterey Park, where three Mercedeses were stolen from their drivers over four days in early November.

In one of those incidents, City Personnel Board member Robert Lem, Alhambra school board member Sophie Wong, and two other passengers in Lem’s Mercedes were accosted at gunpoint Nov. 3 as Lem parked in front of the Litz Restaurant on Garvey Avenue. In another case not involving a Mercedes, Theresa Chang--wife of C. Y. Chang, Taiwan’s representative in Los Angeles--was robbed at gunpoint Nov. 9 of her $10,000 Rolex watch as she drove a friend to the friend’s Monterey Park home after an art exhibit.