A week after an armed robbery and shooting at Il Pastaio, Beverly Hills continues to grapple with the aftermath of the brazen crime. On March 4, three men held up a patron at the storied Italian restaurant at gunpoint, stealing a watch worth $500,000 and shooting a nearby woman. The assailants remain at large, escaping in the moments before the Beverly Hills Police Department (BHPD) arrived. Now, both BHPD and the robbery victim have put out pleas for assistance, with the latter promising a reward of $50,000.
Two days after the incident, Acting Police Chief Dominick Rivetti condemned the crime as “appalling” and sought to reassure residents and guests of the city’s safety. “I want the world to know that Beverly Hills is a very safe community. We invest significantly in our police department to ensure our officers have every resource necessary to do their jobs effectively,” he said in a March 6 statement. “We work closely with our businesses so that shoppers and restaurant guests feel comfortable and secure. And we are vigilant in investigating and bringing to justice those who make the grave mistake of committing crimes here.”
