On Wednesday July 24 the Los Angeles Police Department announced the arrest of a male suspect who is believed to have incited crime sprees. The 16-year-old is connected to crime sprees in both Crenshaw and Hollywood. Due to his age the authorities are currently withholding his name.
Reports suggest that he used social media to organize acts of vandalism as well as robberies on July 15 and 16. These dates were apparently connected to the George Zimmerman verdict. Naturally many people were feeling political and racial tension at the time. Therefore, the time had seemed ripe to incite regular individuals to perform acts of violence.
Some individuals even brought up race during the reports. Still there are those who say that the crimes were unrelated. Crime sprees are quite serious in spite of whatever causes them. They place additional pressure on police who are often already working to deal with regular crimes in the community.
Despite his connection to these sprees, authorities feel that the suspect has no connection with another crime spree that happened earlier this summer in Long Beach. Los Angeles police have charged at least nine other young suspects with robbery. They apparently took mobile phones, a wallet and a skateboard during the Hollywood spree.
Three 16-year-old girls and a 16-year-old boy as well as another group of four 15-year-old boys have pleaded not guilty. Once again due to age their names have been withheld. Therefore media reports have not been covering them. A number of different social media postings are being investigated in connection with the pair of crime sprees.
At the same time detectives released an individual surveillance photo of another suspect who is wanted for five robberies. Those crimes had also occurred in Hollywood, though they are not necessarily related. Detectives are asking anyone with information to get in touch with the LAPD. They're saying that even cell phone video of crime sprees could be useful. Each piece of information is naturally important when it comes to making a conviction or setting an innocent suspect free.