In one instance, the robber targeted a woman as she walked to her car in the Hustler Casino parking lot in Gardena, shoving a semiautomatic pistol into the mouth of his victim, breaking her teeth and threatening, “If you yell again, I’ll kill you.” He stole more than $1,000 from her purse.
In another incident, the masked man approached a driver getting into his vehicle at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa and demanded the victim give him his watch, ring and car. When the driver refused, the man repeatedly said, “I’m going to shoot you, I’m going to kill you.”
The assailaint then shot the driver in the left hand, pointed the gun at his chest and said, “You’re a dead man.”
The assailant then shot the man in the thigh as he tried to take off his watch. After a brief scuffle, the assailant fled to his car and drove away.
On Wednesday, Oshae Pollard, 21, was arrested in connection with a string of violent parking lot robberies in L.A. and Orange counties, federal prosecutors said in a news release. He was charged with interference with commerce by robbery and use of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.
The first victim was targeted in the casino parking lot in Gardena about 11:40 p.m. on Aug. 25. The suspect grabbed the victim’s purse and forced her to the ground, according to a criminal affidavit that detailed his alleged crimes.
He ran away with the victim’s money when a witness began to yell, according to the affidavit.
Pollard then drove away in a blue four-door vehicle, wearing a hoodie sweater and still holding onto his handgun, authorities said.
The following morning, two men approached a taxi driver sitting in a parking lot outside a Winchell’s Donut House in Carson around 5:15 a.m., federal officials said. One of the men pointed a two-toned handgun at the driver and said, “Relax; give me your money and your wallet.”
Paralyzed with fear, the taxi driver did not move. That’s when the two men began to hit him in the face. Then one of them got into the taxi and held the driver up at gunpoint, according to court documents.
A screenshot of security camera footage from a Winchell’s Donut House in Carson shows a taxi driver being robbed at gunpoint.
(U.S. attorney’s office)
The taxi driver gave the men his wallet and phone. One of the robbers was wearing a metal bracelet around his right wrist and had a dark tattoo of a rose on his left wrist. In total, the two men made off with about $560 worth of stolen items, federal investigators said.
On Aug. 26, just 17 hours after the taxi cab robbery, two men driving in a blue Kia Forte stopped their car at the Fashion Island shopping mall in Newport Beach. The men wore black hoodies, gloves and face masks, according to court records.
They parked next to two men standing next to their vehicles — a Rolls-Royce and a Ferrari. The owner of the Ferrari began to walk back to his car when he saw the masked men park near them. The masked men approached the man standing next to the Rolls-Royce.
“Give me all your cash! Where is the cash at?” one of the masked men said, according to court records.
The victim gave the men an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak watch and a Berluti wallet with the initials “KR” on it, and Rolls-Royce keys, federal agents said.
The man in the Ferrari started his vehicle and tried to drive away. That’s when one of the masked men ran up to the vehicle, shot into the car and narrowly missed the driver. The Ferrari owner was able to drive to a nearby gas station and asked a clerk to call the police, according to court records.
Both masked men drove away in their Kia with roughly $44,000 in stolen items. The Newport Beach Police Department recovered a single 9-millimeter shell casing at the scene.
Authorities say on Sept. 22, a man getting into his vehicle at South Coast Plaza was approached by a masked man armed with a gun. He told the driver, “Give me the watch, give me the ring, give me the car.”
But the man did not comply, according to court records.
The gunman then shot the driver in the left hand and thigh. The driver got out of his vehicle and started to kick the masked man. The two briefly fought before the assailant ran back to his blue Kia and drove away, according to authorities.
Investigators say that Pollard’s phone was at the scene of all of the crimes. He was arrested on Oct. 16 by Inglewood police for allegedly carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle. He was initially pulled over by police because his vehicle did not have a proper license plate. His vehicle is a blue Kia and the gun found by police was a loaded, two-toned Glock Model 19 Gen5 9mm, according to court records.
Pollard also had a black ski mask in the car and federal investigators identified a flower tattoo on his wrist. He was released from custody, but the handgun was turned over to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The gun was linked to the spent shell casings from the Fashion Island and South Coast Plaza incidents, according to authorities.
Federal investigators served a search warrant to look through Pollard’s Instagram account and found images of him wearing a metal bracelet and having a dark tattoo that one of his victims reported. He also posted a photo of himself wearing a victim’s Rolex watch.
Pollard appeared in a federal courtroom on Thursday in Santa Ana for his arraignment.
The second robbery suspect, who has not been identified, remains at large, authorities said.