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Brazen thieves run Alfa Romeo off LA freeway, then rob driver in broad daylight

October 27, 2023 | | Print Article

Stunning witness video footage from Los Angeles shows the moment a group of thugs ran a driver off the road and then proceeded to rob him blind.

The robbery occurred around 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday and began with a black Dodge Caravan containing the thugs crashing into and disabling a black Alfa Romeo.

Armed with a hammer and crowbar, the four thugs inside the Dodge Caravan then rushed out of the vehicle, surrounded the Alfa Romeo, and popped open and emptied the trunk as the driver kneeled on the ground and held his hands up in fear.

Afterward, the thugs jumped into a nearby Chevrolet Malibu and fled the scene.

Watch some of what occurred below:

The only good news for other LA commuters is that the robbery may have been personal.

Speaking with local station KABC, one witness said it seemed like the thugs knew exactly where to look for the victim’s stuff.

“It seems like they knew what he had in his car… I felt really bad for him, I thought it was over for him but he did the right thing. He put his hands up, let them take what they took and that’s the safest way he could’ve done it,” the witness said.

The same witness said something similar to CBS News.

“I feel like they knew who he was. They knew what he had. As soon as he knew he couldn’t get away, he did the next best thing: he put his hands up and let them take, or allegedly take whatever they could. … They ransacked something, and they took off,” the witness remarked.

Moreover, the Los Angeles Times notes that “a video from the scene sounded like the men yelled something about getting ‘dope,'” suggesting therefore that the thugs were looking for drugs that they knew were stored in the victim’s car trunk.

Another witness, Rogelio Velasco, told local station KNBC that he stopped to help, thinking it was just a regular ol’ car crash.

“I was more concerned for the victim, and I thought he got hurt in the accident. I thought, my full intention was to try to see what was going on and to see if I could help them,” he said.

He added that he tried to chase after the Chevrolet Malibu but couldn’t keep up with it.

The robbery comes amid an uptick in crime that critics, including local police, have blamed on the Democrat-led city’s zero cash bail policy.

“The elimination of cash bail for these types of offenses is really an invitation to these kind of folks who are inclined to break the law and inclined to do it so brazenly, to push them over to say, ‘hey, if I was to get caught, I’m going to be right back out again,'” Los Angeles Police Protective League spokesperson Tom Saggau told Fox News in August.

“Zero cash bail, also known as no-cash bail or zero-dollar bail, refers to individuals who are arrested and charged with a crime then released from custody without having to pay any bail money upfront,” Fox News noted at the time.

“The policy was first rolled out in LA during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic to decrease jail crowding. It was terminated in July 2022, but a judge reinstated the policy in May after a class action lawsuit was filed by recent arrestees who couldn’t afford to pay bail and had to remain in custody for a few extra days.”

The policy has resulted in a huge uptick in robberies, particularly smash and grabs of big brand stores, though clearly, individuals are being robbed as well.

LAPD chief Michel Moore also believes the lack of bail is to blame for the uptick in crime.

“I do believe that bail acts as a general deterrence. It creates consequences. You face a risk of being incarcerated as a punishment,” he reportedly testified in August.

According to Courthouse News Service, which broke the story at the time, he also pushed back on anti-bail arguments that bail creates a “two-tier system.”

He further added that when members of the public see criminals being immediately released, “it has the potential of significantly undermining the public’s trust.”

“And anything that does that gives me significant concern. People are saying to the police, ‘Why am I going to call you?'” he said.

Vivek Saxena
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