Suspect in Downtown Santa Monica Armed Robbery Arrested As He Arrives in Court for Unrelated Case

February 2, 2023 - A suspect in an armed robbery that occurred in the 200 block of Broadway in downtown Santa Monica was arrested when he showed up in court for an unrelated case.

The armed robbery occurred at 4:35 pm on September 25, 2022. The victim told responding Santa Monica Police officers that two males had pointed handguns at him and robbed him of his Rolex watch. The suspects were seen fleeing in an awaiting vehicle.

After reviewing the evidence, SMPD's Robbery Homicide Division detectives identified two suspects, Leroy McCrary, a 24-year-old resident of Compton, and Donta Baker, a 29-year-old male resident of Los Angeles.

On January 31, 2023, suspect McCrary was arrested by Santa Monica Police detectives when he arrived at court. Baker was already in custody at the Los Angeles County Jail for an attempt homicide incident that occurred in Los Angeles.

Both McCrary and Baker were arraigned on February 1, 2023 at the LA County DA's Office - Airport Branch where they were charged with Robbery. Bail was set for McCrary at $1 million. Baker's bail is currently set at $2 million.

Apparently both men already had charges pending against them when they arrived in Santa Monica and, in the middle of the afternoon on a busy urban street, pointed guns at a visitor to the downtown area and liberated him of an expensive watch.

Anyone with any additional information pertaining to these subjects or incident is strongly encouraged to contact SMPD Detective Ismael Tavera at 310-458-2201 ext. 2256 or the Watch Commander (24 hours) at 310-458-8426.