Federal authorities have charged two men visiting the US from South America with stealing a US$1 million wristwatch at a Beverly Hills restaurant, saying they were part of a “crime tourism” ring.
The suspects allegedly stole the Patek Philippe at gunpoint from a man who was sitting with his wife and daughter at the patio restaurant of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on August 7. One suspect pointed a gun at the man while the other removed the watch – a 5711/113p-001 Emerald Nautilus – from his wrist before fleeing in a getaway car, according to documents filed on Tuesday in federal court in Los Angeles.
Three days later, authorities said the police apprehended the suspects – Jamer Mauricio Sepulveda Salazar, 21, of Colombia, and Jesus Eduardo Padron Rojas, 19, of Venezuela – driving a different vehicle that had been linked to a previous armed robbery in Beverly Hills when a US$30,000 Rolex was stolen.
An affidavit attached to the criminal complaint indicates the suspects belong to a South American Theft Group, designated transnational criminal organisations of citizens from countries such as Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela. These groups commonly exploit the US immigration system and make fraudulent claims to enter the country, federal authorities said.
A spate of watch thefts has also plagued New York City in recent months. Some of those incidents have involved unidentified individuals placing men in chokeholds until they lose consciousness and then grabbing the victims’ watches.
In the latest theft, on August 9, the victim was attacked at a subway station, according to the New York City Police Department.
Last month, the city’s police reported six other heists going as far back as March, some of them at upscale restaurants in Manhattan and in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
In June, a victim was held up at gunpoint outside Carbone, a trendy Italian restaurant in Greenwich Village. Two men robbed his US$100,000 watch and then fled the scene on a motorcycle. Another robbery targeted three men sitting at an outdoor restaurant in SoHo where one of two assailants flashed a silver firearm and took their watches worth US$40,000, US$35,000 and US$8,500.
Police are looking for multiple suspects in these incidents.
In the Los Angeles case, the criminals allegedly surveilled the Patek Philippe for two weeks before making their move. The victim and his family are UK citizens who live in the United Arab Emirates, according to court documents.
If convicted on all counts, Sepulveda faces a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison, while Padron faces as many as 20 years.
Authorities described the heist as a form of “crime tourism,” involving people who live “nomadic lives” in Airbnbs and motels to avoid arrest after entering the US. They use counterfeit identification and aliases to disguise their identity and criminal history, according to the court documents.
Beverly Hills, where streets are lined with luxury boutiques, is a magnet for high-end shoppers and, occasionally, for criminals.
Three men were sentenced to federal prison terms in 2022 for stealing a US$500,000 Richard Mille wristwatch at gunpoint from a pavement diner at Il Pastaio restaurant in Beverly Hills. Two shots were fired during that robbery, one of which wounded a diner in the leg.