Four Los Angeles County men were arrested Tuesday in connection with a series of armed robberies of 7-Eleven stores and a CVS last year that they later allegedly posted about on Instagram.
In an indictment unsealed Tuesday, federal prosecutors said Charles Christopher, 24, of Compton; D’Angelo Spencer, 26, of South Los Angeles; Jordan Leonard, 25, of Torrance; and Tazjar Rouse, 22, of Hollywood committed multiple armed robberies between Nov. 4 and Dec. 24.
Christopher and Leonard pleaded not guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles and were ordered jailed without bond. Their trial is scheduled for Sept. 17.
Rouse appeared Tuesday in federal court in Kansas City, Mo., and Spencer was expected to be arraigned in federal court in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
The indictment details the alleged robberies.
While at least one of the group would remain outside as a lookout or getaway driver, the indictment claims, the others entered the stores during business hours, leaped over counters and took money from the cash registers that they stuffed into a black Nike bag. During the robberies, prosecutors allege, one defendant, usually Christopher or Leonard, pointed a gun at a store employee or customer and demanded their cellphones or wallets.
The indictment also alleges that the men made multiple Instagram posts following the robberies that depicted cash or goods matching those taken from the stores, and that showed them wearing clothes and with a gun apparently identical to those seen in surveillance video during the crimes.
On Nov. 4, the indictment says, Spencer, Christopher and two other men traveled to a South Los Angeles 7-Eleven in a blue BMW and fled with $2,495.
Spencer’s Instagram account, hours later, showed him next to a stack of cash, wearing black clothes and a black ski mask that matched the description of the clothing worn by a suspect during the robbery.
On Nov. 28, the indictment alleges, Christopher, Spencer and at least one other person stole cash and an employee’s cellphone from a 7-Eleven store in South Los Angeles.
Later that day, Spencer’s Instagram showed multiple shots of stacks of cash. Leonard’s account also featured a photo of cash along with the caption “love my bros we go hit every time,” while tagging the Instagram accounts of Christopher and Spencer, according to the indictment.
Two nights later, Leonard posted a video on Instagram of a man’s hand holding cash next to a Smith & Wesson semiautomatic pistol.
The gun in the video appeared to be the same model and finish and from the same manufacturer as the one captured in surveillance video in 7-Eleven robberies on Nov. 28, Dec. 11 and Dec. 24, according to an affidavit made public with the indictment.
On Dec. 11, the indictment says, Christopher, Leonard and Rouse entered a CVS in Hollywood, leaped over the counters and stole cash and prescription medication off the shelves.
The next day, Rouse allegedly made several Instagram posts advertising medication for sale and sent a direct message to another user stating, “I got syrup.”
On Dec. 19, Spencer posted an Instagram video that showed a group of men standing near a cluster of prescription bottles and a black plastic trash bag.
“The prescription medication bottles were identical to the property taken during the CVS robbery; the black trash bag matched the one used to store the stolen medication during the CVS robbery; and the clothing worn by the depicted persons was identical to that worn by suspects during the crime,” LAPD Officer James A. Douglas wrote in an affidavit.
All told, the men are alleged to have stolen $7,617 in cash, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
