Police Arrest One Suspect in Brutal Restaurant Holdup

He had his ticket in hand, and his bus was leaving for Cincinnati in 10 minutes.

But the cops got to the station first, and arrested Jerrell Douglas Jones for committing what they say is one of the most heinous, vicious crimes in memory--a takedown robbery at the Grinder restaurant in San Pedro in which one patron was raped, others were pistol-whipped and a cook who wasn’t even resisting had his throat slashed.

In announcing the arrest of Jones, Los Angeles police said Friday that they have the man who committed the rape and who participated in the pistol-whippings and the near-fatal slashing of the cook.

Police did not say why they waited to announce the arrest of Jones, who was taken into custody Tuesday, but they said they have leads on his two alleged accomplices in the daring Dec. 13 holdup at the busy family-style restaurant in the Harbor Gateway.

Jones, police said, was the worst of the three assailants in a 20-minute spree of violence and terror.

“We are dealing with a very, very dangerous individual. A person who just doesn’t care, who would commit an outrageous, heinous act like this,” said Cmdr. David Kalish, chief spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department. “It was just a horrific crime.”

Jones and two men believed to be in their late 20s burst into the Grinder about 10:30 p.m. last Sunday and forced four customers and three workers to the floor before assaulting them, Kalish said at a news conference held to announce Jones’ arrest.

During the ordeal, in which some victims were forced to disrobe, two other unsuspecting couples entered the restaurant and also were attacked and robbed before the gunmen left with about $2,000 and some watches and jewelry taken from the victims.

“It was one of the most brutal robberies any of us [police] have ever seen in our careers,” Kalish said.

Prosecutors on Thursday charged Jones, 22, of Los Angeles, with 19 counts of attempted murder, robbery, rape and other felonies. His bail has been set at $1 million; arraignment has been scheduled for Dec. 31.

Authorities said Jones is a hard-core gang member who had been out of prison less than two months on a prior burglary conviction when he allegedly put a ski mask over his face and burst into the Grinder, gun in hand.

Kalish declined to say whether police have identified the other two men or if Jones is cooperating with the investigation, which has become a top priority for the department because of the viciousness of the crime. Top detectives from the elite Robbery-Homicide squad are now trying to determine if Jones and the other two men are responsible for other violent crimes in Southern California.

Jones’ arrest came as a result of an anonymous tip to police that one of the suspects was planning to flee Los Angeles on a Cincinnati-bound bus.

When undercover officers arrived at the downtown Los Angeles bus station at 10 p.m. Tuesday with a description of one of the assailants, Jones’ bus was already revving its engines. “He was leaving,” Kalish said, “with a packed lunch and a ticket in his hand.”