Beverly Hills High Robbery Suspect ID'ed, Jewelry Recovered

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — Police have identified one of the women accused of robbing two Beverly Hills High School students outside the school on Monday. Chakyra Sanford, a 20-year-old woman from Compton, was arrested without incident Thursday morning in Compton, according to Beverly Hills police.

At around 4:20 p.m. Monday, two female BHHS students reported that two women robbed them at the intersection of Lasky and Moreno Drive, right outside the school. Sanford and another suspect, who is still at large, are accused of stealing a gold necklace from one of the students and attempting to steal a cell phone from another. No weapons were reported, and the suspects fled the scene.

Police arrived within two minutes, and were able to track the vehicle that sped away, according to Beverly Hills police. Detectives obtained a search warrant, searched Sanford’s home and car, and recovered the stolen necklace.

Sanford was charged with robbery and her bail is set at $50,000. She is currently in custody at the Beverly Hills Police Department. She is due to appear Friday at the Airport Courthouse in Los Angeles.

Detectives say they are still trying to identify the other subject. Anyone with information is encouraged to call the BHPD at 310-285-2125, or text BEVHILLSPD, followed by tip information, to 888777.

“We are grateful to the Beverly Hills Police Department for operating quickly to make an arrest and for recovering the stolen property,” Beverly Hills Superintendent Michael Bregy wrote in an email to parents. On Monday, Bregy praised the students for handling the matter "the safest and most effective way possible throughout this incident."

Bregy said additional security was called to the campus following the incident.

Monday's robbery follows a string of other jewelry-related robberies that occurred in broad daylight in or near Beverly Hills.

The most notable took place on March 4, when a woman was shot at the Il Pastaio Italian restaurant downtown as robbers tried to rob a man of his $500,000 watch. The watch’s owner, jeweler Shay Belhassen, has offered a $50,000 reward for its recovery.

More than half a dozen daytime Rolex robberies have taken place around Fairfax and Melrose since the beginning of the year. Two times in January, robbers tackled men to the ground for Rolex watches. On Jan. 20, two men attacked a man and stole his watch. On Jan. 30, robbers tackled a man on the 700 block of North Vista Street and also took his Rolex. As of March 12, the LAPD has arrested two suspects, though they have not disclosed for which incident.