On July 17, Beverly Hills Police Department (BHPD) arrested three suspects—two men and one woman—as well as one juvenile boy in connection with an armed robbery incident that occurred near N. Doheny Drive and Santa Monica Boulevard.
According to Sgt. Jeffrey Newman, acting public information officer at the BHPD, Beverly Hills police officers responded to an incident at the 600 block of N. Doheny Drive involving an armed robbery at 6:41 p.m. Two victims, Newman said, were confronted and forced to give their watches to the suspects. Before police arrived, the suspects drove away in a grey Chevrolet sedan, fleeing in the direction of West Hollywood. BHPD, however, was able to obtain the license plate of the vehicle, and officers continued to search for the vehicle.
BHPD declined to provide details about how law enforcement obtained the suspect vehicle license plate.
Newman said that at approximately 8:40 p.m., technology and resources used by the Real Time Watch Center—a surveillance system that includes drones and automated license plate readers—assisted BHPD with locating the suspects’ vehicle near Rodeo Drive and Dayton Way.
“Officers responded to the area, located the vehicle and initiated a traffic stop nearby,” Newman said. “The investigation led to the arrest of the four occupants and the recovery of two handguns and watches believed to be from the earlier robbery.”
The four arrested suspects are Ziona Famoso, 18, who’s being charged with robbery and criminal conspiracy; Cameron White, 18, charged with robbery and criminal conspiracy;
Williams, 19, charged with robbery and criminal conspiracy; and an unidentified 17-year-old male juvenile. While police did not release the charges the juvenile is facing, BHPD plans to seek robbery charges against the juvenile suspect, according to Newman.
BHPD is currently working with neighboring law enforcement agencies to determine if these four suspects may have been involved in other crimes.
“BHPD Detectives are actively following up on leads,” a BHPD statement says.
Bail for each of the adult suspects is set at $100,000. Their next court date is scheduled for July 19 at Airport Courthouse.
Anyone with information about the armed robbery incident is encouraged to call BHPD at (310) 550-4951.
The incident occurred as data shows crime in Los Angeles and surrounding areas dropping moderately in 2023. In Beverly Hills, there has been a 21% drop in overall crime thanks in no small part to the Real Time Watch Center (RTWC), which has been in use since June 2022 and has successfully served as a crime deterrent. Since the launch of RTWC, property crime has decreased by 20% and violent crime by 27%, according to data provided by BHPD. The RTWC has CCTV cameras that are monitored at all hours of the day by patrol operators.
In other news involving law enforcement, an infant surrendered to the Beverly Hills Police Department has led to a criminal investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department.
According to Newman, a baby was surrendered at the BHPD station on July 17. Beverly Hills police subsequently turned the baby over to the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services.
What felt like a feel-good story—it appeared as though a helpless child had been saved—soon “turned into a different” story altogether, according to Newman.
The Hollywood division of the Los Angeles Police Department is investigating the incident.
Few additional details were available as of press time.
“We’re not releasing more information because we don’t want to jeopardize their case,” Newman said. “We have transferred that investigation to LAPD Hollywood Division.”
