Six 7-Eleven convenience stores fell victim to robberies throughout Saturday night and early Sunday morning in Southern California, with three located in Long Beach and the others in nearby L.A. County communities. The brazen string of robberies launched investigations as authorities searched for connections between the incidents, according to KTLA and CBS Los Angeles.
In Long Beach, police responded first to a 9:30 p.m. reported robbery at a 7-Eleven on Long Beach Boulevard. Long Beach police said, "The preliminary investigation revealed two male adult suspects entered the store and walked behind the employee counter." One suspect, simulating he had a weapon, demanded cash. Two other Long Beach locations were hit later, with varying methods of theft including armed robbery and the outright theft of a cash register. Fleeing before police could respond, the suspects in these incidents remain at large.
The L.A. County Sheriff's Department is also probing robberies in Bellflower and Lakewood. Deputy Meza with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Information Bureau noted that all three instances involved groups making off with registers, as reported by CBS News. They first struck in Bellflower at 3:30 a.m. and proceeded with their heists in Bellflower and Lakewood, ending before dawn. Meanwhile, investigators said they fled in a black sedan after the first incident.
Law enforcement agencies are seeking any connections between the six robberies, a task complicated by the lack of immediately identifiable links beyond the targeted convenience store chain. No injuries have been reported in the incidents across Long Beach or the other affected communities. Along with stealing cash registers in the second 7-Eleven that was hit, the suspects immediately fled without causing significant damage or utilizing weapons.
The public is being asked to come forward with any information that could lead to the identities of the individuals linked to these crimes. In a bid to drum up leads, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department's Major Crimes Bureau is reaching out through various communication channels, including a call for tips saying, "Please contact LASD Major Crimes Bureau at (562) 946-7893 or [email protected]," as per the information released by the Sheriff's Information Bureau.
