2nd Suspect In Beverly Wilshire $1M-Watch Holdup Appears In Court

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — The second of two South American "crime tourists" linked to the armed robbery of a $1 million emerald-encrusted watch from a man sitting on the patio of a restaurant at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel pleaded not guilty Thursday to a federal charge.

Jesus Eduardo Padron Rojas, 19, of Venezuela entered his plea in downtown Los Angeles to one count of interference with commerce by robbery — known as a federal Hobbs Act crime, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

A tentative trial date of Oct. 22 was scheduled.

Padron's codefendant, Jamer Mauricio Sepulveda Salazar, 21, of Colombia, plead not guilty earlier this month to interference with commerce by robbery and one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

The robbery occurred Aug. 7 at around 6:40 p.m. when the victim was sitting with his wife and 5-year-old twin daughters on the patio of The Blvd restaurant at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, near Wilshire Boulevard and Rodeo Drive, Homeland Security Task Force Officer Thomas Ferguson wrote in court documents obtained by Patch.

One suspect approached the group and pointed a semi-automatic handgun at the victim and pulled back the gun's slide, chambering a round. While he held the victim at gunpoint and yelled in Spanish, the second suspect approached the man and removed the silver Patek Philippe Emerald Nautilus watch from his wrist, prosecutors said.

The victim, a U.K. citizen and United Arab Emirates resident who was a guest at the hotel, said he feared for his and his family's lives and let the suspect take the watch without a struggle, according to court documents

The suspects fled the scene on Rodeo Drive and eventually got into a blue Toyota Corolla; Sepulveda served as the getaway driver, prosecutors said.

The car was "cold plated" — using a license plate that was not registered to the vehicle. That often suggests the plate is stolen and used to conceal crimes and avoid police attention, according to court documents.

Authorities three days later executed a search warrant at an Airbnb where the South American theft group had been staying on Browning Boulevard in Los Angeles: Security camera footage showed the group leaving the night before, according to court documents.

During the search, officers found a Glock 21 .45 caliber handgun in a bedroom that was registered to notorious former Los Angeles police officer Christopher Dorner, according to court documents. Authorities have not said how they believe the suspects came to possess the gun.

On the same, officers over 200 miles east, in Blythe, conducted a traffic stop on a Chevrolet Equinox and identified Sepulveda and Padron inside the vehicle, according to court documents.

Police recovered three phones from the vehicle, including ones believed to belong to Sepulveda and Padron. Sepulveda was wearing the same shirt he was wearing on the day of the Beverly Wilshire robbery, when he was captured on a security camera driving the getaway car, according to court documents.

The SUV was linked to another armed robbery on Doheny Road, just north of Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills, on Aug. 5, during which a $30,000 Rolex was stolen, authorities said.

Sepulveda later admitted to police that when the crew's vehicle was stopped in Blythe, they were on their way to Miami to meet a co-conspirator and receive their payment for the stolen Patek Phillipe watch, according to court documents.

He also admitted to committing the Rolex robbery and receiving $1,500 from a co-conspirator for the watch. He also admitted to being the getaway driver in the Beverly Wilshire robbery and said the crew had been conducting surveillance and watching for the Patek Phillipe watch for two weeks, according to court documents.

Police searched the phones and found photos and videos of Sepulveda holding the Patek Phillipe watch, screenshots of a BHPD news release about the robbery and images of him holding different guns, according to court documents.

Additionally, one of the phones contained a screenshot of an Instagram Story that shows the Patek Phillipe watch with the text "these are the 2 watches we are looking for, they are valued at 1.3 million dollars," according to court documents.

Southland authorities have recently noted an uptick in so-called "crime tourism," in which foreigners often fraudulently enter the U.S. and live nomadic lives to avoid arrest while they commit robberies. The groups often use counterfeit identification and aliases, according to court documents.

If convicted on all counts, Sepulveda faces a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison, while Padron faces up to 20 years in federal prison.

The investigation is being handled by Homeland Security Investigations and the Beverly Hills and Blythe police departments.

Paige Austin and City News Service contributed to this report.