SANTA ANA – A Santa Ana grand jury has indicted nine people accused of planning and carrying out a series of smash-and-grab jewelry store robberies across Southern California, federal authorities announced Thursday.

Federal prosecutors say six men planned and organized at least 10 brazen robberies in Mission Viejo, Canoga Park, Century City, Woodland Hills, Thousand Oaks, West Hollywood, Torrance, Malibu and Santa Monica. Three others took part in at least some of the thefts, the officials said.

Four were arrested Thursday morning, joining three already in custody. Officials say they are still searching for two men.

The 13-count indictment alleges that the robbery crew stole watches and other jewelry estimated at $6 million between August and April. During one heist in a Century City mall, a robber is suspected of firing a rifle shot at a security guard.

Prosecutors say the leaders of the crew recruited “financially desperate young men,” promising them a “large sum of money” if they carried out the smash-and-grab robberies. However, authorities allege, the recruits ultimately received far less than promised.

The jewelry stores, which included Frederic H. Rubel Jewelers in the Shops at Mission Viejo, were chosen for their expensive watches with such brands as Rolex, Audemar Piguet and TAG Heuer, according to federal officials.

“The organizers of this ring carefully planned and executed a series of daylight robberies that terrified and endangered store employees and bystanders,” U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker wrote in a statement. “The indictment and arrests today demonstrate that ringleaders cannot escape prosecution by sending lower-level participants in to commit the crimes on their behalf.”

Authorities identified Darrell Dent, 39, of Inglewood as the alleged leader of the crew, and Keith Walton, 45, of Los Angeles as a key figure in the ring. They also named Robert Johnson, 27, of Inglewood, Stanley Ford, 47, of Los Angeles, Justin Henning, 28, of Inglewood, Evan Scott, 27, of Inglewood, Kenneth Paul, 21, of Los Angeles, Jameson Laforest, 24, of Inglewood and Marshawn Marshall, 18, of Inglewood as being involved in the planning or in the actual robberies.

Of those, Marshall is the only suspect alleged to have taken part directly in the Mission Viejo robbery, in which four masked men, at least one armed, ordered employees to the ground, broke open a display case with a sledgehammer and rifled through the cases for jewelry as patrons fled.

Also arrested after the Mission Viejo robbery, but not listed in the federal indictment, were Levon Michael Tippit, 23, of Inglewood, and Devan Devell Howard, 18, of Los Angeles. The fourth suspect was not named.

County prosecutors previously alleged that while fleeing the robbery, the men threw a bag of stolen items, which included a tracking device, onto the northbound I-405. Witnesses called police, leading to the arrests.

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