Teen Suspects in Street Robbery Arrested on Freeway

Four knit-cap-wearing thieves who robbed a woman at knifepoint in a city parking lot Tuesday were nabbed a few minutes later in a heavily policed traffic stop on the Golden State Freeway, authorities said.

Police believe the youths who were arrested committed two other robberies in the same parking lot on Nov. 16, said Glendale Police Sgt. Rick Young.

About 11:35 a.m. Tuesday, a 27-year-old Los Angeles woman was putting change in a parking meter in the 300 block of North Brand Boulevard when four teenagers approached her from behind, one pressing a knife to her back, Young said.

The youths demanded money, he said. The woman told them she had none, so one of the thieves ordered her to open her purse and grabbed her wallet, Young said. The teens then fled.

The woman was not injured, Young said.

Witnesses took down the license-plate number of the robbers’ car and their description was broadcast over police radio. Officer John Beltran spotted the car entering the southbound Glendale Freeway from Colorado Street, Young said.

Glendale police, the California Highway Patrol and a Glendale police helicopter stopped the car on the southbound Golden State Freeway at the Santa Monica Freeway, closing it down for about 20 minutes until the youths were arrested, Young said.

In the getaway car police found a butterfly knife--believed to be the weapon used--gloves and knit caps believed to have been worn by the thieves, he said.

Arrested on suspicion of robbery were Marlon Antonio Espinoza, 18, two 17-year-old boys and one 15-year-old boy, police said. All are from Los Angeles. Espinoza is being held on $35,000 bail and the three juveniles are being held without bail.