• Coffee-sipping cops come to the rescue of Echo Park 7-Eleven *

    Saturday, August 28, 2010

    The presence of an LAPD squad cars and  two uniformed officers would probably make most people think twice about committing a crime.  But that was no deterrent for Luis Hernandez, who early this morning walked past a squad car in the parking lot of an Echo Park 7-Eleven, entered the store and then ran out with a 12-pack of beer after shoving the clerk to the floor, according to police.  The crime was witnessed by the two officers who were standing near coffee counter in the store at Sunset Boulevard and Rosemont Avenue. Lt. Wes Buhrmester of the Rampart Division provides the details:

    “At the 7-Eleven, 2200 W. Sunset Blvd., this morning (8-28-10) at 1:20 a.m., two of our officers were getting coffee.  They were a patrol unit, in uniform with their black and-white parked in front.  Luis Hernandez, 28, Los Angeles, walked in, past them, went to a cooler and removed a 12-pack of beer.  He then walked toward the front of the store and passed an open register.

    The clerk asked Hernandez if he was going to pay for the beer, but he continued walking.  The clerk approached him at the door, at which point Hernandez pushed him down and ran out.  The officers chased him for a half-block south on Rosemont St. before detaining him without incident and recovering the beer.  Hernandez *  was subsequently booked for strong-arm robbery.  The shoplift became a robbery when he pushed the store clerk out of the way, thus using force or violence to facilitate the theft.  He also had a no-bail warrant for grand theft.  His state of sobriety was not described in the report.”

    * Correction: A previous version of this post identified the suspect, Luis Hernandez, incorrectly as Rodriguez in the fifth reference.

    Photo from Flickr

    { 30 comments… read them below or add one }

    Gary August 28, 2010 at 10:03 am

    Inspirational.

    Reply

    Truth August 28, 2010 at 10:16 am

    the gaul.
    12 pack of beer : $12.
    getting arrested : costs the state several thousand
    sitting in jail for the next 4-6 for robbing a 7-11, all for a 12 pack : priceless

    Reply

    Silver Lake Citizen August 28, 2010 at 10:37 am

    Way to go LAPD!

    Reply

    Alijill August 28, 2010 at 10:55 am

    My guess is he already had a few.

    Reply

    wow August 28, 2010 at 11:05 am

    what a frikkin dimwit. did he not see them?

    Reply

    sireneb August 28, 2010 at 1:06 pm

    There are always cops at that 7-11, or at least in the parking lot. Seems like the worst place to pick to rob!

    Reply

    Lambskins August 28, 2010 at 2:01 pm

    Wow, this could be the stupidest criminal in Echo Park; and he’s got a lot of competition.

    Reply

    TYLERDURTON August 28, 2010 at 2:04 pm

    LMAO wtf was this guy thinking must be one of them stupid annoying drunks that thinks they’re invisible while intoxicated.

    Reply

    John August 28, 2010 at 2:29 pm

    Perhaps he is not so stupid. Three hots and a cot in the biggest give-away state in the Union. Beats working or begging.

    Reply

    Truthclaw August 28, 2010 at 2:58 pm

    Darwin.

    Reply

    chardonnay August 28, 2010 at 3:57 pm

    I thought for a minute it was going to be Leif Garrett.

    Reply

    merlot August 28, 2010 at 4:17 pm

    No. Leif was back at the house waiting for the booze

    Reply

    hoffbrau meister August 28, 2010 at 5:46 pm

    What happened to the beer..were all 12 saved and unharmed…

    Reply

    patrick August 28, 2010 at 7:55 pm

    I’ve never not seen a police car in front of that 7-11. You’d have to be an idiot to try to rob or steal there.

    Reply

    Tyson August 28, 2010 at 8:30 pm

    @ John: yeah too bad we also have the most expensive and crowded prison system in the US. Taxpayer dollars being drained to keep morons like these locked up for years.

    Reply

    dan August 28, 2010 at 8:59 pm

    It is so obvious that he wanted to go back in jail where there is a bed to sleep, food to eat, water to shower, tv to watch and so on. Such a lazy bump.

    Reply

    wolf August 29, 2010 at 5:00 am

    Maybe he was trying to get back in the slam.

    Reply

    Ann-Marie Chen August 29, 2010 at 5:40 am

    That guy rules!

    Reply

    beercantuna August 29, 2010 at 9:30 am

    NOBODY can see ME!!!!!

    Reply

    Renato Pacifico August 29, 2010 at 11:10 am

    He must be awfully thirsty!!!!

    Reply

    hmmm August 29, 2010 at 8:33 pm

    So maybe the cops that have been hanging out at the 7-11 everyday for years, flipping through magazines for hours at a time, sometimes 2 or 3 squad cars in the parking lot at a time- maybe they haven’t been just wasting taxpayer money, but have been on a stake out for this major bust.
    go blue.

    Reply

    B.E. August 29, 2010 at 10:33 pm

    Too bad the cops weren’t there when that kid was shot right in front of that 7-11 a few weekends ago.

    Reply

    Ruby Jackson August 30, 2010 at 8:29 am

    Alcoholism. It makes you do desperate things.

    Reply

    Hanna August 30, 2010 at 11:57 am

    Wait a minute this 7eleven is located at Silver Lake and not Echo Park, why every time something is wrong at Silver Lake is denounced as if it were in Echo Park and if something is good in E.P. then is credited to Silver Lake, hmm.

    Reply

    Cristi August 30, 2010 at 12:41 pm

    Hanna — you must be confused. Rosemont and Sunset is definitely Echo Park. it always has been. Describing the 7-11 as being located in Echo Park is just a matter of geographical accuracy and nothing else. Please do not read anything else into it. If somebody told you that neighborhood was in Silverlake I would bet that it was a realtor and that s/he lied to you. They have been known to do that, …

    Reply

    Santi August 30, 2010 at 12:46 pm

    @hanna, I live around the corner and my address is Echo Park.

    But also, the real question:

    “Rodriguez was subsequently booked for strong-arm robbery.”

    Who is Rodriguez? I thought we were talking about Hernandez? Is one spanish name as good as the next?

    Reply

    Lt. Wes Buhrmester, Rampart Patrol Division August 30, 2010 at 5:21 pm

    Santi, my error. Mr. Sanchez posted the quote verbatim from my e-mail, and I mixed up the names. There was an involved party named Rodriguez in the report. My fault. The arrestee was in fact surnamed Hernandez.

    Wes
    25214@lapd.lacity.org
    (213) 484-3400

    Reply

    zos August 30, 2010 at 7:44 pm

    @cristi

    youre right about rosemont and sunset being echo park, but where does echo park end and silver lake begin? coronado? hyperion??

    Reply

    Why S? August 31, 2010 at 12:00 am

    zos, I believe that Echo Park begins at Waterloo, which does not go through to Sunset but is between Rosemont and Coronado.

    Reply

    SireneB August 31, 2010 at 8:39 am

    I thought the line between Echo Park and Silverlake was Benton Way. Friends living on Benton say it is. Isn’t that where the zip code dividing line is?

    Reply

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