The calm of Malibu was rocked last Tuesday, March 22, with a brazen robbery in broad daylight. It happened at the Westime store at the Malibu Country Mart at the typically quiet time of 10:30 in the morning.
That’s when detectives with the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff ’s Station say four hooded suspects entered the luxury watch and jewelry store on Cross Creek Road. The suspects pepper sprayed the lone employee at the time and then proceeded to smash display cases in the store.
The Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff ’s Station reported that the thieves seemed to know what they were after because only certain items were taken, including Rolex watches and some jewelry, initially estimated worth $100,000 dollars, although the worth of the items is still being determined. Other items were untouched. It also appeared that the robbers cased the business to know where the items were located and when the manager of the store would be alone. The whole episode took just under one minute.
The swiftness of the crime made it difficult to find witnesses and catch the thieves, who are still being sought by police. Noelle Scott, the manager of Letarte, located across from Westime, told The Malibu Times that although she did not see the store employee being attacked, she saw the aftermath. Scott said she saw the manager of the store drenched in what appeared to be water after possibly rinsing himself of the pepper spray. She said he appeared distraught and shocked. Paramedics, police cars and a fire engine quickly arrived to help. Police say the unidentified man was not hurt.
Sgt. Matthew Dunn with the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff ’s Station said it is not clear yet whether the Malibu robbery is connected to a string of recent Rolex store robberies in Los Angeles. In February, another Westime location on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles was robbed. That crime resulted in a police pursuit down La Cienega Boulevard that ended with the suspect crashing into another car and one arrest.
In August, two masked men carrying assault rifles were able to pull off a lunchtime robbery at the Rolex store in the Century City mall. The men rode the escalator right to the front of the store. The security guard saw the suspects and tried to lock them out. That was when the suspects fired shots, gained entry to the store and ransacked it. The robbers in that case also made off with hundreds of thousands of dollars in luxury watches. They were able to get away with the help of another driver in a stolen car. The three suspects then abandoned the vehicle and got away on foot and still have not been caught.
With the Westime Malibu location still shuttered as of Tuesday afternoon when The Malibu Times went to print, it is unclear whether security will be beefed up after this latest incident.
Across the parking lot from Westime, Scott said she feels secure in her store with the security that’s been in place but called last Tuesday’s heist “shocking” adding, “It’s unfortunate that it happened.”