Venezuelan national pleads not guilty to Beverly Hills hotel robbery

LOS ANGELES—The second of two South American nationals charged in connection with the armed robbery of a $1 million emerald-studded watch from a tourist seated on a restaurant terrace at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel pleaded not guilty this week to federal charges.

Jesus Eduardo Padron Rojas, 19, of Venezuela, entered a plea in downtown Los Angeles to one count of disrupting commerce through theft, a crime known as a misdemeanor under the federal Hobbs Act, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

A tentative date was set for the trial: October 22.

A mystery remains over how Padron and his co-defendant came into possession of a firearm registered to Christopher Dorner, the infamous former LAPD officer who shot four people to death 11 years ago and subsequently died after a standoff with police.

The suspected robbers are believed to be part of a group of foreigners who travel to the United States to commit high-value thefts.

The robbery on the afternoon of August 7 targeted a watch worn by a British tourist who was sitting with his wife and two daughters on the terrace of a hotel café. According to prosecutors, one of the suspects approached the victim and pointed a black semi-automatic pistol at the victim, pulled back the slide of the pistol and loaded a cartridge.

Related Stories

While the first suspect held the victim at gunpoint, the second suspect walked up to the victim and ripped the silver Patek Philippe watch, estimated to be worth $1 million, from his wrist, prosecutors said.

The watch was later recovered in Miami, following an investigation into another watch theft that had occurred months earlier in Florida.

Both suspects then left the scene of the accident and eventually got into a blue Toyota Corolla, with co-defendant Jamer Mauricio Sepulveda Salazar, 22, of Colombia reportedly driving the getaway car, according to documents filed in federal court in Los Angeles.

Sepulveda pleaded not guilty on September 3 to one count of disrupting commerce through robbery and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

Police executed a search warrant at an Airbnb in Exposition Park where the South Americans were reportedly staying. During the search, officers found a Glock handgun registered to Dorner. Later that day, authorities conducted a traffic stop in Riverside on a Chevrolet Equinox and identified Padron and Sepulveda inside the vehicle, according to court documents.

Prosecutors say the Equinox was linked to another armed robbery in the 400 block of Doheny Road in Beverly Hills on Aug. 5, in which a Rolex worth $30,000 was stolen.

It remains unclear how the suspects came into possession of a gun registered to Dorner, who went on a murderous rampage in 2013 that gripped Southland. His killing spree left two police officers dead, along with the daughter of a former LAPD captain and her fiancé.

The killings sparked a massive manhunt that eventually led to Big Bear, where authorities engaged in a lengthy gun battle with Dorner, who had holed up in a cabin that eventually caught fire and burned to the ground. Dorner was found dead in the gutted cabin.

It is unclear whether the gun registered to Dorner is the same gun used in the Beverly Hills robbery, but authorities say no other weapons were found.

If found guilty on all counts, Sepulveda faces up to life in prison, while Padron could receive up to 20 years in prison, prosecutors said.