Assailant on bicycle yanks gold chain off neck of boy, 5

Police are looking for an assailant who rode up on a bicycle in South Los Angeles and yanked a gold chain from the neck of 5-year-old boy.

Video images from nearby businesses show that the thief pulled the chain so hard that the boy was dragged along the sidewalk, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

The robbery occurred Monday about 3:25 p.m. in the 5300 block of South Main Street. The boy and his family had just finished eating at a restaurant, police said.

The LAPD said the video images show the attacker  buying a drink at a store just before the crime. He is described as Latino, about 21 years old, 5-feet-7 with black hair and hazel eyes.

Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Chris Marsden or Det. Guillermo Medina at (323) 846-6572.
 

-- Robert J. Lopez

Photos: Suspect on the day of the crime. Credit: Los Angeles Police Department

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Comments

[Victoria M.]

How low can you go? Parents, please do not put gold jewelry on you little ones - this is not the first time something like this has happened and it won't be the last. Gold is over $ 1,000 an ounce right now. DO NOT put valuables on your children because they are such an easy target, and there will always be thieves and robbers among us.

[Republicus Maximus]

Why a gold chain for a 5 yr old?

[Clem]

Stealing is wrong, but use some sense and don't put gold necklaces on a 5 year old. Would you let him walk around with $2,000 in cash wrapped around his neck?

[D]

What in heaven's name is a 5-year-old doing wearing a gold chain in the first place?

[alex]

wow people are desperate, ruthless, and just evil why would you do that to a 5 year old. It makes me think real hard because I have a 5 year old nephew who I watch and for this kid on his bicycle to do that it's just wrong. Hope they catch that like punk and put him in jail for a senseless crime to a 5 year old. What is this world coming to?

[phlogiston]

Some of these folks are not respecters of any propirities as "old-time criminals" were. These animals target the aged, women, and children, the most vulnerable.

It's unfortunate that we don't adopt punishments that are extant is some places such as Singapore, caning as well as jail time. Some 100 lashes with split bamboo might cause this miscreant to reconsider such action when he again had the opportunity.

Of course, putting a target of opportunity, a vulnerable young boy with something of value in a ghetto or barrio area is tempting the fates. Sad all the way around. Sad commentary on our society.

[mike]

Looks like some people like to blame the victim. would you do the same if it was a rape? would you say she was asking for it because of how she was dressed?

[Hose]

What are you stooges talking about? So what if they parents put a necklace on the kid! The fact is that the necklace was ripped off his neck and he was dragged like a ragged doll. Why didnt this coward try to steal an adults necklace? You folks are trying to blame the parents for a crime that should not have been committed in the first place. And yes, welcome to Latin America.

[raina]

For crying out loud people, it is a tradition in some circles of the latino community that children wear gold chains with Our Lady of Guadalupe or some sort of saint or angel. IT doesn't matter WHY the child was in possession of a gold chain - it matters that this innocent child was assaulted by an adult WHO SHOULD KNOW BETTER. I wore a gold chain as a child and I am most certainly not a "gangster." Stop with the sterotyping already and find the creep who hurt this innocent child.

[Devi]

I am still wondering (since apparently my first comment wasn't approved), where were this boy's parents or guardians? Who lets a 5 year old, much less in South LA, walk alone? Guaranteed, if that jerk had tried that with my child, he would have found himself in the hospital. But really, where were the parents?

[Maxine]

Everyone is talking about the necklace. What kind of experience will that 5 yr old remember? He is not going to trust. How could he when at 5 , someone steals from him and also might have hurt this child.Emotional scars are not forgotten. What kind of person will this 5 yr old be from this experience? Let's worry about that amnd not spend time on the jerk who stole it.

[Al]

Should a 5-year-old be wearing a gold chain?

[Kelli]

I'm interested to know why a child of five years was wearing gold jewelry.

Certainly this crime was wrong as any other, but seriously, if people exercised a little common sense, these problems would be minimized.

And yes, phlogiston, I would partially blame a rape victim if he or she were walking alone and unarmed at night in a bad area with no lights, and no means of contacting anyone. That doesn't mean the rapist shouldn't be shot on sight, but the victim does bear some blame for putting him or herself in that situation. Many crimes could be prevented by making some common sense choices. Choosing to not let your five year old child wear a gold necklace is a good place to start. If it didn't get stolen, it would have gotten lost.

[HAROLD]

Parents playing dressup with their children is a separate issue and no one elses business. the outrage is an adult stole from a small child.

[joe]

Why is a 5 year old boy wearing a gold chain?

[Kati]

Why was this little kid out on the street alone in the first place. I saw the video...he was standing out by the street and dad came running out of the place AFTER the guy rode by and robbed the kid.

Don't get me wrong...the thief is a dirtbag...but there are things parents can do to help protect their children.
NOT draping them in gold or leaving them unattended on a city street are both good places to start.