French Bulldog Stolen During Armed Takeover Robbery in Culver City Motel; One Suspect Arrested

Culver City police have arrested one of the four suspects who held up at gunpoint and pistol-whipped three people inside a local hotel room, stealing a French Bulldog puppy and cellphones last week.

The armed takeover robbery at the Astro Motel, located at 3850 Sepulveda Boulevard, occurred about 9:57 p.m. April 5, according to the Culver City Police Department

Four armed suspects went inside a motel room where they forced three victims to take their clothes off, then pistol-whipped them in the head, said CCPD in a press release.

The suspects then took off with the victims' property, including cellphones and one of the victim's two-month-old, gray French Bulldog, police said. They were last seen running towards the east alley of Sepulveda Boulevard.

The victims sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries and were treated at a local hospital, CCPD said.

"Culver City detectives conducted a thorough investigation and were able to identify a suspect, a Los Angeles resident with an extensive criminal history," police said.

Local detectives located and arrested the suspect without incident on April 7, police said. "At the time of the arrest, he was found to be in possession of a loaded gun." His name has not been released.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office has filed three counts of home invasion robbery, two counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearm and one count of a felon in possession of a firearm, CCPD said.

The three additional suspects are still outstanding and the French Bulldog has not yet been located, police said.

The suspects were described by police as three Black men between 20 to 30 years old, all wearing dark clothing and blue surgical gloves.

Anyone with any information is urged to contact Sgt. Eddie Baskaron at 310-253-6316.