2 Arrested in Beverly Hills ‘Follow-Home’ Robbery

Police arrested two suspects early Monday in a Beverly Hills “follow-home� theft, the first arrests in connection with 32 robberies of luxury-car drivers that have occurred in affluent hillside neighborhoods of the Santa Monica Mountains.

The Beverly Hills robbery was similar to those in the San Fernando Valley “but whether it is connected to any of the rest I can’t say at this time,� said Los Angeles Police Detective Patrick Conmay, head of a task force investigating the “follow-home� robberies.

Conmay identified the suspects as Carluus Daily, 23, and Gina Morena, 20, both of south Los Angeles. They were arrested by Beverly Hills police soon after midnight near Doheny Drive and Dayton Way.

They were booked on robbery charges and jailed at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department substation in West Hollywood. Conmay said police will attempt to link them to the string of robberies in which bandits have made off with at least $312,000 in cash and jewelry since mid-October.

About half an hour before the arrests, a 65-year-old man and his 63-year-old wife in a Rolls-Royce were accosted by a man with a gun in front of their home in the 700 block of Camden Drive. The robber took about $2,000 in jewelry.

Conmay said police recovered a handgun when the suspects, who were riding in a yellow Cadillac, were arrested about 15 blocks away. Conmay said he had not been able to link the car or the gun to the other robberies. No shots were fired, and no one was hurt.

The robbery was the second “follow-home� incident of the weekend and the fifth in the last nine days. Friday evening, a 60-year-old man and a 53-year-old woman riding in a Cadillac were confronted in the carport of a condominium in the 18700 block of Hatteras Street in Tarzana. Conmay identified the robbers in that case as two black males in their 20s, at least one of whom had a gun.

Cash, Jewels Taken

He said they took $10,000 in cash and jewels. The victims saw a black car drive away.

Twenty-two of the robberies have occurred in the Valley--12 in Encino and most of the others in the Santa Monica Mountains from Sherman Oaks to Woodland Hills. Ten have occurred in West Los Angeles and Beverly Hills.

The robbers usually follow the drivers of luxury cars, most frequently late-model Mercedes-Benzes, to their homes. They then confront the drivers in their garages or driveways, frequently with pistols, and demand cash and jewels.

Police last month issued descriptions and released drawings of two black men in their 20s thought to be involved in robberies. Additional robberies did not occur for several weeks, but resumed Feb. 4.

As the list of “follow-home� robberies has grown, anxiety among residents of affluent hillside areas has increased. Some people said last week that they had begun driving circuitous routes and become quicker with electric garage door openers. Several women said they were driving less flashy cars so that they would not attract attention.