2 men linked to ‘crime tourism’ gang charged in $1 million watch theft in Los Angeles

Federal authorities have charged two men visiting the United States from South America with stealing a $1 million wristwatch from a Beverly Hills restaurant, accusing them of being part of a criminal tourism ring.

The suspects allegedly stole the Patek Philippe at gunpoint from a man who was sitting with his wife and daughter at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel’s patio restaurant on Aug. 7. One suspect pointed a gun at the man while the other removed the watch — a 5711/113p-001 Emerald Nautilus — from his wrist before fleeing in a getaway car, according to documents filed Tuesday in federal court in Los Angeles.

Three days later, authorities said police arrested the suspects — Jamer Mauricio Sepulveda Salazar, 21, of Colombia, and Jesus Eduardo Padron Rojas, 19, of Venezuela — while they were driving a separate vehicle linked to an earlier armed robbery in Beverly Hills in which a $30,000 Rolex was stolen.

An affidavit to the criminal complaint indicates the suspects are members of a South American theft ring, designated transnational criminal organizations of citizens from countries including Chile, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela. These groups often abuse the U.S. immigration system and make fraudulent claims to enter the country, federal authorities said.

A series of watch thefts have also plagued New York City in recent months. In some of the incidents, unknown individuals choked men until they lost consciousness and then grabbed the victims’ watches.

In the latest theft, on Aug. 9, the victim was attacked in a subway station, New York City police said.

Last month, city police reported six more robberies dating back to March, some of them at upscale restaurants in Manhattan and Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

In June, a victim was held up at gunpoint outside Carbone, a trendy Italian restaurant in Greenwich Village. Two men robbed his watch of $100,000 and then fled on a motorcycle. Another robbery targeted three men sitting at an outdoor restaurant in SoHo, where one of the assailants brandished a silver firearm and stole their watches worth $40,000, $35,000 and $8,500, respectively.

Police are looking for multiple suspects in these incidents.

In the Los Angeles case, the criminals allegedly spied on the Patek Philippe for two weeks before making their move. The victim and his family are British citizens living in the United Arab Emirates, according to court documents.

If found guilty on all counts, Sepulveda faces a maximum statutory sentence of life in federal prison, while Padron could face as much as 20 years in prison.

Authorities described the robbery as a form of “crime tourism,” involving people who live “nomadic lives” in Airbnbs and motels to avoid arrest after entering the U.S. They use false identification and aliases to hide their identities and criminal history, court documents said.

Beverly Hills, where the streets are lined with luxury boutiques, is a magnet for expensive shoppers and sometimes also for criminals.

Three men were sentenced to federal prison terms in 2022 for stealing a $500,000 Richard Mille wristwatch at gunpoint from a sidewalk diner outside Beverly Hills restaurant Il Pastaio. Two shots were fired during the robbery, one of which wounded a diner in the leg.