Aug 26, 2008 11:49 am US/Pacific
Man Suspected Of Being 'Silverware Bandit' Booked
LOS ANGELES
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A career criminal was identified as a suspect in a string of Westside home-invasion robberies targeting older women.
CBS
A career criminal was identified Tuesday as a suspect in a string of Westside home-invasion robberies targeting older women, and
prosecutors said he could face life in prison if convicted of the crimes.
Jeffery Wayne Langford, 53, of South Los Angeles, was arrested Friday
and booked on suspicion of robbery, police said at a news conference.
He is being held in lieu of $2.7 million bail.
Langford is suspected of being the "Silverware Bandit," a robber
responsible for at least 15 home-invasion robberies dating to a May 27 robbery in West Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office filed 10 charges
against Langford for robberies committed on June 14, July 1 and Aug. 8.
He faces three felony counts each of residential burglary and residential robbery, one felony count each of receiving stolen property, false imprisonment by violence and assault.
He is also charged with one misdemeanor count of cutting a telephone line.
The case is a "third strike" for Langford, who could face life in prison if convicted, according to the District Attorney's Office.
Langford was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon and burglary in 1982.
He is scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon at the Airport Branch
Courthouse.
Twelve of the robberies occurred in Los Angeles, two in Santa Monica and
one in Culver City, according to the LAPD.
Langford allegedly targeted women between the ages of 70 and 97, typically between 2 and 5 a.m. Terri Tippit, chair of the Westside Neighborhood Council, said the arrest brings a sense of relief.
"I have two elderly, single women on my block. Every night before I
went to bed, whether it was 11 p.m. or 1 a.m., I got out, walked up and down my street -- looked at their homes to make sure I didn't see any lights on.
That's what everybody was doing. We were under a cloud," Tippit said.
On July 29, a man allegedly forced a 96-year-old woman into her home
near the 2500 block of Westwood Boulevard, then ransacked the place, fleeing with some valuables, police said.
On Aug. 12, a man believed to be the same suspect broke into the Santa
Monica home of a woman in her 70s while she was asleep, rummaged through the residence and left with several items, said Santa Monica police Sgt. Renaldi Thruston.
Santa Monica and Los Angeles police started collaborating on the case
after an Aug. 8 robbery in the 1200 block of Ashland Avenue in Santa Monica.
The investigation was continuing to determine if Langford should face charges in additional robberies.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
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