Griffith Park Robbery Victim Tracks Assailants; 3 Arrested

A man who was robbed and tied up at gunpoint in Griffith Park freed himself and followed his assailants to a Burbank gas station, where officers arrested three suspects, police said Friday.

The 25-year-old Burbank resident told police that he was on his way to meet a friend in the park shortly before midnight Thursday when he was accosted by three males, one of whom was armed with a handgun, Los Angeles Police Detective Bob States said.

They bound his hands and feet with tape, took his wristwatch and credit cards and fled, States said.

But the man quickly broke free and ran to his car, States said, then followed his assailants’ car into Burbank. When their car pulled into a service station at Lake Street and Alameda Avenue, about four miles from the scene of the robbery, the victim flagged down a Burbank police car, States said.

Car’s Occupants Arrested

Police arrested the three occupants of the car, Rodney Garrett, 19; Rodney Trent, 18, and a 17-year-old youth, all of Burbank, on suspicion of robbery. Garrett ran from the car but was caught a short time later by a police dog, States said.

Officers found a loaded .357-caliber magnum and a pellet gun in the car. Credit cards and a wristwatch, believed to be stolen, were also recovered.

Garrett and Trent were being held at Parker Center in lieu of $16,000 bail, police said. They were expected to be arraigned next week in Los Angeles Municipal Court.

The teen-ager was released to his parents pending his appearance next week in Eastlake Juvenile Court, States said.