The second of two South American nationals allegedly linked to the armed robbery of a $1 million emerald-encrusted Patek Phillipe watch from a tourist 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.
A mystery lingers over how Padron and his co-defendant came into possession of a handgun registered to Christopher Dorner, the notorious former LAPD officer who killed four people before dying at the end of a standoff with police 11 years ago.
The suspected robbers are believed to be part of a “crime tourism” group composed of foreign nationals who travel to the United States to engage in high-value theft.
The robbery on the afternoon of Aug. 7 targeted a watch worn by a British tourist sitting with his wife and two daughters on the patio of the hotel cafe. Prosecutors said one of the suspects approached and pointed a black semi-automatic handgun at the victim and pulled back the slide of the handgun, chambering a round.
While the first suspect held the victim at gunpoint, the second suspect approached and snatched the silver Patek Philippe watch, estimated to be worth $1 million, from the victim’s wrist, prosecutors said.
The watch was later recovered in Miami following an investigation into a separate watch theft that took place in Florida months earlier.
Both suspects then left the scene and eventually entered a blue Toyota Corolla, with co-defendant Jamer Mauricio Sepulveda Salazar, 22, of Colombia allegedly serving as the getaway driver, according to papers filed in Los Angeles federal court.
Sepulveda pleaded not guilty on Sept. 3 to one count of interference with commerce by robbery and one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.
Law enforcement executed a search warrant at an Airbnb in Exposition Park where the South Americans were reported to have stayed. During the search, officers found a Glock handgun registered to Dorner. Later that day, authorities conducted a traffic stop in Riverside on a Chevrolet Equinox and identified Padron and Sepulveda inside the vehicle, according to court papers.
The Equinox was allegedly linked to another armed robbery in the 400 block of Doheny Road in Beverly Hills on Aug. 5, during which a $30,000 Rolex was stolen, prosecutors said.
Surveillance photo of Christopher Dorner taken on Jan. 28, 2013, at an Orange County hotel. (File photo courtesy Irvine Police Dept.)
It remained unclear how the suspects came into possession of a weapon registered to Dorner, who went on a murderous rampage in 2013 that gripped the Southland. His killing spree claimed the lives of two police officers, along with the daughter of a former LAPD captain and her fiance.
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The killings prompted a massive manhunt that ultimately led to Big Bear, where authorities engaged in an extended gun battle with Dorner, who was holed up in a cabin that eventually caught fire and burned to the ground. Dorner was found dead in the burned-out cabin.
It was unclear if the gun registered to Dorner was the one used in the Beverly Hills robbery, but authorities said no other weapons have been recovered.
If convicted on all counts, Sepulveda faces a sentence of up to life in federal prison, while Padron faces up to 20 years, prosecutors noted.