On Sunday, July 8, 2007, at 11:00 P.M., undercover officers, with the assistance of uniformed patrol officers, from the Santa Monica Police Department were monitoring the parking structures located in the Downtown area. They were looking for a suspect who was wanted in connection with several recent armed robberies of the parking booth attendants.

As part of the City’s overall safety plan, public video cameras were placed throughout the Downtown public parking structures. In the aftermath of the series of robberies, a review of the video images from one of these public video cameras resulted in the observation of the wanted robbery suspect; he was seen walking out of Parking Structure #6 (1451 2^nd Street). This information was communicated to the patrol officers. The parking booth attendant was contacted and confirmed that he had just been robbed. The suspect used a knife and had taken $20. 

A few minutes later, officers patrolling the area on foot saw the suspect in Parking Structure #2 (1235 2^nd Street).  He was walking away from the area of the parking booth. As the officers followed the suspect, he quickly ran down a nearby stairwell. At this time, the parking booth attendant yelled out to the officers that she had just been robbed. The suspect used a tire iron to take $122 from the attendant. This robbery was also captured on the public video camera.

Officers were able to apprehend the suspect on the ground floor of the Parking Structure. The suspect was positively identified by witnesses.  The knife and tire iron were recovered along with the stolen money. 

This suspect is believed to be responsible for a string of 11 armed robberies of the parking booth attendants. He is also responsible for a burglary of the parking booth. In the burglary, the suspect took money from the booth when the attendant stepped away. These incidents date back to July 23, 2006. In some of these robberies, the suspect was armed with a knife, screwdriver, tire iron, or handgun.

The suspect has been identified as Juan Carlos Hernandez, male, Hispanic, 31 years old; he is a resident of Los Angeles. Hernandez is being detained at the Santa Monica Jail.  Bail has been set at $50,000.

This is an ongoing investigation.  Anyone with additional information is encouraged to call the Santa Monica Police Department at (310) 458-8427 (24 hours) or call Detectives at (310) 458-8451 (M – F, 8 AM – 5 PM). Anyone wishing to remain anonymous may call the WeTip hotline at 1-800-78-CRIME (72463).