LOS ANGELES (AP) — Officials are looking into why two robbery suspects were in possession of a gun registered to rogue ex-Los Angeles police officer Christopher Dorner, who went on a deadly shooting rampage in 2013, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.
One of the suspects, Jesus Eduardo Padron Rojas, a 19-year-old Venezuelan citizen, told police he had handled the gun and left it in the Airbnb where authorities discovered it Aug. 10, officials said. The weapon is registered to Dorner, who killed four people in 2013.
Jamer Mauricio Sepulveda Salazar, a 21-year-old Colombian citizen, and Padron were stopped and charged with felonies related to an armed robbery. Sepulveda and Padron told investigators that they were involved in an armed robbery of a $30,000 Rolex on Aug. 5 in Beverly Hills. Two days later, they said they took a Patek Philippe watch with an estimated worth of over $1 million, according to an affidavit.
One suspect pointed a gun at a man sitting with his wife and two daughters on the Beverly Wilshire Hotel’s restaurant patio while the other removed the silver Patek Philippe watch from his wrist, the affidavit said. The crew had been surveilling for the luxury watch for two weeks, Sepulveda told police.
Authorities are investigating how Dorner's gun came into the men’s possession, said Justice Department spokesperson Ciaran McEvoy. The gun was in a pillowcase on a bed where a witness told police Padron had been sleeping in the Airbnb, according to the affidavit.
The two suspects charged Tuesday told investigators they had been staying at the Airbnb and had photos of the stolen Patek Philippe watch on their phones.
Dorner killed four people, including two law enforcement officers and the daughter of a former LAPD captain and her fiancé, during a weeklong rampage in February 2013 that involved a massive manhunt and ended with his apparent suicide in a mountain cabin following a gunbattle with police.
Sepulveda and Padron are both in custody and made their initial court appearances Tuesday. They will be arraigned next month in federal court in downtown Los Angeles.
Prosecutors said they were members of a crime tourism group. The groups “live nomadic lives to avoid arrest by law enforcement, including by residing in Airbnbs and cash-focused motels,” prosecutors said in court records.
FILE - This undated photo released by the Los Angeles Police Department shows former Los Angeles police officer Christopher Dorner. (AP Photo/Los Angeles Police Department, File)
BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — Charles Leclerc qualified on pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as Max Verstappen was sixth and Lando Norris only 17th on Saturday in a session that could have a big impact on the Formula 1 title race.
Ferrari's Leclerc, who won the last race in Italy, was fastest by .321 seconds from McLaren's Oscar Piastri, and the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz Jr. was third. Pole marked a dramatic turnaround for Leclerc, who crashed in the first practice session Friday.
“It hasn’t been an easy weekend because (of) the crash in FP1, which didn’t make me lose confidence. I knew that the pace was there," Leclerc said. "But you’ve got to build back up to speed.”
Leclerc is on pole in Baku for the fourth year running, but he has yet to win the race.
Norris was on what seemed to be a lap fast enough to progress from the first part of qualifying as one of the top 15. But he had to slow for a yellow flag that was apparently for Esteban Ocon's slow-moving Alpine. Norris' time from his first lap missed the 15th-place cutoff by .137 of a second.
“There was nothing I could do” about the yellow flag, Norris said. “Frustrating, but now we look ahead to tomorrow and see where we can maximize the result.”
Norris moved up a place on the grid hours later when Pierre Gasly, who had been 13th, was disqualified for breaking rules on fuel flow rates.
Norris is second in the standings, 62 points behind Verstappen with eight races remaining.
McLaren confirmed before the race weekend that it would favor Norris over Piastri to help his title challenge, with Norris suggesting the Australian would be asked to make way for him on track in some situations.
That almost certainly won't happen Sunday with 15 places separating the teammates in qualifying. Piastri is aiming to fight for a second career win.
“Our race pace is good, but the Ferrari is certainly not slow,” he said.
Defending champion Verstappen, who hasn't won any of the last six races, seemed better in Baku but was sixth and said he'd clipped a curb at “the worst time it could have happened.” Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez was fourth, beating Verstappen in qualifying for the first time all year.
Verstappen said the Red Bull was improved from the Italian Grand Prix, where he finished sixth, but questioned whether the team's attempts to refine the setup ahead of qualifying made things worse.
"On a street circuit you need to be comfortable and confident to be able to attack corners and it is harder to do this when the car is a bit more unpredictable," he said.
George Russell was fifth for Mercedes, ahead of Verstappen, with Lewis Hamilton seventh and Fernando Alonso eighth for Aston Martin.
There was a bizarre incident in the final part of qualifying when Williams' Alex Albon stopped on his way out of the pits to remove a large cooling fan that the team left in his air intake. Albon qualified 10th and the team was fined 5,000 euros ($5,500). Throwing the cooling fan out of the car as Albon did was the “least worst option” because it avoided further disrupting the session, the stewards' ruling said.
Albon's teammate Franco Colapinto, in only his second F1 race weekend, was ninth in the best qualifying result for an Argentine driver in 42 years.
British teen Oliver Bearman, standing in at Haas for the suspended Kevin Magnussen, was 11th after recovering from a crash in the third practice Saturday morning.
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco in action during a Formula One Grand Prix practice in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco in action during a Formula One Grand Prix qualifying in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco in action during a Formula One Grand Prix qualifying in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
Haas driver Oliver Bearman of the United Kingdom walks through the pit lane during the Formula One Grand Prix qualifying in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (Ali Haideric/Pool via AP)
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands enters the pit lane during the Formula One Grand Prix qualifying in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (Ali Haideric/Pool via AP)
McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain in action during a Formula One Grand Prix practice in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco in action during a Formula One Grand Prix qualifying in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
