UDATE April 6, 2012: From Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station;

Three La Crescenta Teens Robbed While Walking Home From School in Separate Incidents Just Minutes Apart

Three teenagers were robbed several minutes apart from each other by three suspects as they were walking home from school Thursday afternoon at about 3:30 p.m., in La Crescenta. The victims, all students at Crescenta Valley High School, were just blocks away from the school as they were approached separately by the suspects within several blocks of each other. Two of the victims are 17 years old and the third is 15.

Crescenta Valley Station patrol deputies initially responded to the intersection of Foothill Boulevard and Glenwood Avenue in response to a robbery call. While conducting their investigation at that location they soon learned that two additional robberies had taken place on nearby Ramsdell Avenue.

The victim on Foothill Boulevard reported that he was slapped and kicked by one of the suspects. The suspect also displayed a pistol stuck in his in his waistband in an attempt to coerce the victim to give up any valuables. Fortunately this robbery was interrupted by a nearby citizen who observed the robbery and yelled at the suspects, forcing them to flee. The victim was not seriously injured by the assault.

The other two victims were forced by threats from the suspects to surrender a cell phone, cash, and a baseball cap.

After interviewing the three victims, deputies realized that the description of the suspects and the car seen in the robberies was the same. This information was relayed to assisting units. Within minutes, an alert deputy from the Sheriff’s Department COPS Bureau located the suspects in the parking lot of a shopping center at the corner of Foothill Boulevard and Pennsylvania Avenue, in La Crescenta. All three suspects were arrested and the victims’ stolen property was recovered. Deputies also located a BB gun that resembled a real pistol in the suspects’ car.

The male suspects were identified as Austin Cho,age 24, of Granada Hills; Young Kum, age 24, of Los Angeles; and Edward Shin, age 24, of Los Angeles. The suspects were booked for robbery at the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station and are being held in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Students are reminded that they should always walk to and from school in groups and to always be aware of their surroundings.

Anyone who may have information about these robberies is asked to contact the Crescenta Valley Station Detective Bureau at 818-248-3464, or anonymously through Crime Stoppers by dialing 800-222-TIPS (8477), texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or using the website http://lacrimestoppers.org