LAPD Searching for Elyse Walker Purse Bandits

By GABRIELLA BOCK | Reporter

Police are looking for a gang in connection to a string of thefts from a high-fashion clothing store where an assistant was knocked to the ground.

At 4:19 p.m. on July 13, four 20 to 25 year olds entered Elyse Walker’s famed boutique on Antioch Street and asked an employee for a pair of shoes.

While the saleswoman was away in inventory, the suspects began grabbing numerous designer handbags before running toward the door.

After returning with the shoes, the employee attempted to stop two of the suspects by grabbing at their clothing.

One witness said that the woman was able to retrieve three of the items before she was knocked over and dragged on the ground.

All four suspects got away in a black, four-door Nissan Altima.

The store is famous beyond Pacific Palisades. Since Walker opened her doors in 1999, it has attracted more than its share of supermodels and Hollywood stars. But that also means its reputation has spread to some darker corners of Los Angeles as well.

Forbes magazine has called Walker “Hollywood’s Favorite Boutique Owner.” She is known to curate the store with only the highest-end offerings by Alexander McQueen, Gucci and Valentino.

The store reported that the robbery resulted in a loss of $17,455.

Because an employee was hurt in the process, the theft has been recorded as an estate robbery, although Senior Lead Officer Michael Moore told the Palisadian-Post that the he did not believe that the suspects intended for the theft to turn violent.

While frightening, theft combined with violence is very rare in the Palisades, with only one annual robbery reported over the last three years.

“I call this a shoplift gone very wrong,” Moore said.

Authorities believe that two of the suspects are responsible for a theft from the store on July 10 when a similar-looking man made off with handbags worth around $11,000.

The second suspect is believed to have been driving the same Nissan Altima.

Copycat thieves be aware: Over the last few days Elyse Walker, which prides itself on its relaxed
environment, has hired a security guard and customers have described him as “not obvious, but big
and burly.”