Dennis RomeroShe sounds like a villain out of a James Bond flick. Police are searching for a young woman who they believe might have taken multiple men home from clubs only to steal valuable watches and goods from them as they lay passed out from an unknown drug.
The Los Angeles Police Department this week circulated photos of the suspect who they say might have targeted victims at a Hollywood club and at venues in West Los Angeles. “She's targeting affluent guys wearing high-end jewelry, going back to their residences, incapacitating them and, when they wake up, property is missing,” LAPD Det. Joseph Hampton says.
On March 5, the suspect met two men at a Hollywood club and went back to their home in Studio City, he says. The department circulated photos of three luxury watches stolen from the pair. “It was determined an unknown substance was used to poison or drug the victims, causing them to become incapacitated,” according to LAPD. “The suspect then removed jewelry and money from the victims and from their residences. “
It's not clear what drug might have been used. Hampton says toxicology tests were not conducted because it was too late to do so by the time the Studio City men reported the crime. “It flushes out,” he says. It's possible the date-rape drug GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate) was involved, he says.
There are other L.A. incidents that mimic the suspect's modus operandi, but the Studio City heist is the only one in which security video captured a suspect, the detective says. Video also captured the suspect leaving, he says, but it wasn't clear how she fled from there. The trio used Uber or a similar ride-share service to get to Studio City, Hampton says.
Police believe the suspect might have had help, including a possible ride from the location, the detective says. “Maybe she has a crew — I don't know,” Hampton says. “Somebody could have been there to ensure she had a ride back.”
Cops don't want to name the club where the suspect and victims met, but Hampton says it's in the core Hollywood nightlife district. They believe other victims might be out there but that they could be reluctant to report the theft because of potential shame involved or perhaps because some of them might be married, he says.
The suspect was described as a 20-year-old African-American woman, 5 feet, 6 inches tall, 120 pounds, with “a large tattoo on her left leg, left hip and back,” according to the department. If you think you know her, call police at 818-754-8377 or submit an anonymous tip online or via 800-222-8477.
Credit: LAPD
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