L.B. teen charged with armed robbery

Long Beach police arrested one of two men who they say was involved in an armed robbery on March 1, after they allegedly assaulted three men at a vacant home on East Pine Street.

Police said the incident happened at about 2:40 p.m., when three men went to the empty house believing that they were going to look at a computer that was offered for sale. But when two of the men entered the house, police said that they were attacked and forced to the ground by two male suspects wearing masks, one armed with a shotgun and another with a revolver.

Police said that one victim was beaten with the shotgun and sustained non-life threatening injuries, requiring emergency medical treatment at South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside. According to police, the assailants rifled through the pockets of the victims and demanded cash. The victims were robbed of money, jewelry and other items.

A short while later, Long Beach police officers stopped 17-year-old Long Beach resident Jordan Ayala at Riverside Boulevard and East Market Street, where police said he was positively identified as one of the assailants. Ayala has been charged with two counts of first-degree robbery, three counts of second-degree robbery, two counts of first-degree criminal use of a firearm, and one count of second-degree assault. He was arraigned in Long Beach City Court on March 2, 2013 and was held in lieu of $200,000 bail.

According to Det. Lt. Stefan Chernaski, Long Beach detectives subsequently recovered the shotgun and revolver believed to have been used in the robbery. It was also determined that the East Pine Street home where the incident took place has been vacant for a long period of time. Police are searching for the second suspect and the investigation is ongoing, and police are asking anyone with information to call the department’s tip line at (516) 705-7370.

“On behalf of the City Council, I would like to compliment Commissioner [Mike] Tangney and the entire police force for the quick apprehension of the alleged perpetrator of this criminal act,” City Council President Scott Mandel said in a statement. “The LBPD has done, and continues to do, a tremendous job in reducing crime in our city.”