The Beverly Hills Police Department (BHPD) arrested three suspects earlier this week in connection with a theft at the Whole Foods in Beverly Hills. The suspects were booked for, among other charges, resistance or delaying of an investigation.
“The investigation we conducted that day led to the arrests of the three suspects,” BHPD Captain Giovanni Trejo told the Courier.
On Feb. 20, at 5:22 p.m. BHPD officers received a call from the Whole Foods about a theft that had occurred at the grocery store. Officers immediately responded. Before they arrived at the store, located at 239 N. Crescent Drive, officers learned the suspects had already fled the store in a vehicle.
The suspects drove southbound on Crescent Drive. Using technology associated with the Real Time Watch Center, including drones along with private and public surveillance footage, police caught up with the suspects at Peck Drive and Daniels Drive. Officers conducted a traffic stop. After the vehicle stopped, the suspects took off and fled on foot, according to Trejo.
In response, officers established a containment area, stationing police vehicles at nearby intersections to prevent the suspects from getting away. After an investigation of the area, police located the suspects, who were unarmed, within that containment area, which Trejo described as a residential neighborhood south of Olympic boulevard.
Officers took the suspects into custody around 8 p.m., according to BHPD.
The three suspects were booked for numerous charges, including petty theft, delaying an investigation, conspiracy to commit a crime and burglary.
BHPD shared the identities of the three suspects two females and one male. They are Govanna Roger, 20; Teijhane Rucker, 25; and Damian Reed, 26. All three are from Northern California. Roger and Rucker are from Oakland, and authorities did not immediately have information on where Reed is from.
The charges against Reed, according to BHPD, included identity theft. Trejo did not have additional details about the charge. BHPD confirmed the incident “was a theft to a person,” not a robbery of the store.
In an interview with the Courier, Trejo and Lt. Reginald Evans, an executive officer with the BHPD, credited the ongoing role of the Real Time Watch Center (RTWC) in curbing crime in the city.
“RTWC played an instrumental function in the investigation,” Trejo said. “Using technology which included drones and public footage from the city as well as private footage from businesses in the area definitely aided in the investigation and the identification of the vehicle involved.”
