[ad_1]
A woman eating at a famous Beverly Hills Italian restaurant on Thursday afternoon was shot dead as three men robbed another restaurant, authorities said.
Shortly after 2 p.m., the three men approached a man who was eating a meal at Il Pastaio in the 400 block of Canon Drive, according to a statement from the Beverly Hills Police Department.
The thieves fled and the woman was taken to hospital with injuries that were not considered life threatening, according to Beverly Hills Police Captain Max Subin.
A second person was treated for injuries at the scene but was not shot, police said.
Subin said the thieves appeared to be targeting the man, not the restaurant.
A police source who requested anonymity to speak candidly about the open investigation said police believed the man who was robbed was the target of his high-end watch. The source said the woman’s injury was a scratch injury.
Opened in 1994, Il Pastaio is one of several high-end Italian restaurants owned by chef Celestino Drago, who also operates restaurants in Santa Monica and Los Angeles. A call to the restaurant seeking comment was not immediately returned Thursday afternoon.
In recent weeks, thefts have increased in some of the western Los Angeles neighborhoods that border Beverly Hills, including the neighboring Wilshire area, authorities have said.
Between January 30 and February 15, seven people had Rolex watches stolen in the vicinity of Mid-City and the Melrose Corridor. Numerous thefts took place during the day, with criminals targeting people who “wore high-end jewelry, especially Rolex watches,” investigators said.
The thieves “used multiple types of vehicles and appear to follow victims to area restaurants and stores,” the Los Angeles Police Department said in a press release last month. “In most cases, suspects wait for victims to walk towards their vehicles and reach an isolated area before attacking them at gunpoint.”
[ad_2]
Source link