AIRPORT POLICE OFFICERS CATCH THREE ROBBERY SUSPECTS MINUTES BEFORE THEY COMMIT REPEAT CRIME AT LAX PARKING LOT

(Los Angeles, California – November 8, 2006) On Nov. 4, 2006, Los Angeles Airport Police Officers arrested three robbery suspects as they prepared to commit a second robbery of a cashier’s booth in Economy Parking Lot B at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

On Oct. 8, a cashier’s booth at Lot B had been robbed at gun point by three suspects, who fled in a maroon Cadillac.

Acting on information obtained during roll call briefing, Airport Police Officers Richard Sanchez and Glen Huggins arrested the suspected armed robbers. During the arrest, officers recovered a ski mask and two replica handguns one in the waist band of one of the suspects and another hidden under the arm rest in the back seat of the vehicle which are believed to have been used in the original crime. The arrest took place as all three suspects were poised to commit another robbery at the same location.

Officers Sanchez and Huggins drove westbound on 111th Street adjacent to LAX, approaching the parking lot used by employees and as a long-term parking lot for travelers. While driving, the officers saw a maroon Cadillac parked in the lot in a tow-away, no parking at anytime zone with three males sitting in the vehicle. A wants and warrant check conducted by the police dispatch on the vehicle showed its registration had expired March 2006, although the tabs displayed on the vehicle license showed March 2007.

Officer Andrei Soto who responded as back up, assisted Officers Sanchez and Huggins in conducting the vehicle investigation. During the investigation, the driver told officers he was waiting for a friend, who works for the parking lot concessionaire.

The suspects arrested for suspicion of armed robbery (211 PC) were Dominic Joel Williams of Los Angeles; Nathan Dewight Richardson Elliott of Inglewood; and Kenneth Kennedy Tatum of Chula Vista.

James T. Butts, Los Angeles World Airports Deputy Executive Director of Law Enforcement and Protection Services, said the officers worked together to accomplish the Airport Police’s primary mission of "proactively preventing and suppressing criminal activity."

Los Angeles Airport Police is the fourth largest law enforcement agency in Los Angeles County, with more than 900 law enforcement, security and staff personnel. Airport Police is a division of Los Angeles World Airports, the City department that owns and operates four airports in Southern California: Los Angeles International (LAX), Ontario International (ONT), Palmdale Regional (PMD) and Van Nuys general aviation (VNY).