A 22-year-old man was charged today with multiple felony counts in connection with a series of armed robberies throughout the Inland Empire and Los Angeles County, including three in Long Beach, authorities announced.
Long Beach resident Dylan Derrick Watson was charged with six counts of robbery and four counts of possessing a deadly weapon by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for his alleged involvement in multiple armed robberies, according to the Long Beach Police Department (LBPD).
Authorities said robbery detectives were investigating three incidents when they learned of similar robberies in Montclair and the Inland Empire, eventually reaching out to those agencies.
In the first two incidents, which happened at electronics stores, the suspect brandished a handgun and demanded cellphones and cash from each employee and then fled with the items. The first incident happened November 29 on the 2100 block of South Street and the second incident occurred December 5 on the 1400 block of West Willow Street. The third incident took place at an eatery on the 3400 block of Cherry Avenue on December 6. Officials said the suspect entered the business, brandished a handgun and demanded cash from the clerk. He then fled with cash.
“Based on the suspect’s physical description and the manner in which the robberies were carried out, investigators believed that the same person was responsible for these crimes,” officials said in a statement.
Long Beach detectives subsequently identified Watson as the suspect with help from the Hemet Police Department and other police agencies in the Inland Empire and on December 16 located and arrested him on the 5100 block of West Century Boulevard in Inglewood. Detectives also served a search warrant, towed his vehicle and recovered evidence related to the robberies, according to officials.
Watson is currently being held at Long Beach City Jail with a bail set at $2.012 million.
Anyone with information regarding this investigation is encouraged to call Long Beach Robbery Detective N. Mora at (562) 570-5536. Anonymous tips may be submitted through “LA Crime Stoppers” by calling 1 (800) 222-TIPS (8477), downloading the “P3 Tips” app to your smart phone (available at the Apple App store and Google Play), or visiting www.LACrimeStoppers.org.