Three robberies at three different funeral homes in the South Bay [Hawthorne, Torrance] they had the police search for a third thief after two suspects were arrested.
It started at McKay’s South Bay Mortuary on Marine Avenue in Lawndale on Saturday.
Hawthorne police responded and McKay officials showed them surveillance video of three people with their faces covered with a copper mouth.
Detectives secured the scene, gathered evidence, and began their investigation.
Then early Tuesday morning another call came.
This time, it was the Continental Funeral funeral home on Hawthorne Boulevard in the town of Hawthorne at 3 a.m.
By the time the police arrived, the robbers had left the scene.
It seemed that the strange set of robberies was over.
The robberies seemed like a pattern, according to an officer’s hunch.
The officer decided to do a security check at Sean Douglass’ funeral home, Douglass and Dunaway’s funeral home, just a few miles away from West Broadway.
“He saw flashlights inside, and then he asked for support,” Douglass said.
The officer’s hunch turned out to be quite correct.
After surrounding the building, police arrested Elías Domínguez, 39, and Edwin Jiménez, 26, on suspicion of robbery.
Police said they were inside and tried to escape.
Detectives believe this is a pattern and may have entered mortuaries in other parts of the county.
Douglass showed his office, which had been ransacked.
He said cleaning it was a lot of extra work for his staff as they have been dealing with a 300-400% increase in business since the pandemic began.
Douglass said he believes the suspects were searching for valuables and cash.
“Everyone mainly deals with credit cards, and there really isn’t much [efectivo] that can be found, “said Douglass.
Detectives said they are still gathering evidence to link the three robberies to the same two suspects. They are also looking for a third subject.
– .
