Press Releases

06/02/01
Carjacking ends up in Redondo Beach

At 9:40 P.M., Saturday night several Redondo Beach Police Department units were involved in a traffic stop of a vehicle at the intersection of Inglewood Ave. and Robinson St. A “Thrifty Car Rental” airport van, which they later learned had been carjacked at gunpoint from LAX, slowed down rapidly next to the officers and the driver of the van jumped out and yelled at the officers that he was being robbed.  The van then rapidly drove off with one of the suspects at the wheel, southbound on Inglewood Av. Officers pursued the vehicle several blocks to 172nd St. where it stopped.  Two male suspects jumped from the van and ran across the street into the City of Lawndale.  One suspect was captured immediately by Redondo Beach officers and the other suspect disappeared between houses in the 4700 block of 172nd St.

Redondo Beach Officers, with the assistance of L.A. County Sheriff’s Deputies from Lennox Station, as well as officers from Torrance, Hawthorne, Palos Verdes, and El Camino College, quickly contained the area to search for the second suspect.  The search was aided by a police helicopter from the Hawthorne Police Department along with police canine teams from Torrance and Palos Verdes. About twenty minutes later, the suspect was captured after he was found hiding in the bushes of a residence in the 4700 block of 173rd St. He was taken into custody without incident.  Three passengers were found inside the van and had been tied up with their clothing.  They were shaken but not injured.  A black pellet gun, that resembled a semi-automatic handgun, was found by officers inside the van.  A search of the area was conducted for a possible second gun.  None was found.

The incident began at about 9:20 P.M. in front of the Continential Airlines terminal at LAX. The three victim passengers had just landed and were taking the shuttle van to pick up their rental car.  The suspects also boarded the van at that location and confronted the driver and the passengers at gunpoint.  They ordered the driver to start driving and began threatening the passengers with injury.  They tied them up and placed them on the floor of the van. The victims all indicated that the suspects treated them roughly and verbally berated them throughout the ordeal.

The suspects, Darrell Lamount Bradford, 40, of Los Angeles and Anthony Sarabia, 24 of Lynwood were booked at the Redondo Beach jail for car jacking, robbery and kidnapping.

This press release was prepared by Sgt. Bob Remington 310-379-2477 ext | 2340