Beverly Hills Police Arrest Masked Burglary Suspect

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — A man arrested on suspicion of more than 30 masked burglaries across the Southland was free on bond this morning after being arrested in Beverly Hills.

Beverly Hills police stopped Rockim Powell, a 30-year-old man from Inglewood, on Sunday and found items - including a face mask - in his car that linked him to a string of burglaries. Prowell is suspected in at least two Beverly Hills burglaries taking place on April 20, 2021, and July, 2020. Flat screen TVs were taken in both incidents, according to ABC7.

Police were looking for a burglar seen in surveillance cameras wearing a rubber or latex mask around his head, along with a curly wig and glasses, suspected in a string of burglaries across the Los Angeles area.

On Thursday, the LAPD Pacific branch tweeted photos of the masked burglar, and wrote "It was odd this burglar's mouth was always open when seen on video surveillance. When he was caught breaking into another home we discovered why. He has been linked to 30+ burglaries across the LA area, and 7 in @LAPDPacific. On Friday morning, the tweet was taken down.

A further search of Powell’s home found additional items linking him to the burglaries, police said. The license plates on his car were also determined to be stolen.

Prowell is charged with two counts of burglary, two counts of grand theft, and one count of vandalism. He was released on bond at around 6 p.m. Thursday, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department jail records.

— City News Service contributed to this report.