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4 Armed Men Wanted In Multiple Taco-Vendor Robberies In South Los Angeles

UPLAND (CBSLA.com) — Police are looking for four armed men accused of robbing taco vendors in South Los Angeles.

The 40-minute crime spree happened Thursday from 8:30 p.m. to 9:15 p.m. at the intersections of 49th Street and Compton Avenue, 41st and Alameda streets, and 57th Street and Broadway, according to the LAPD.

Araceli Melchor is one of the victims. She was robbed at the corner of 49th and Compton.

"They had guns. They had her side by side, telling her to give her the money," Melchor told CBS2's Rachel Kim through a translator.

She said the four men seen in the pictures captured by security cameras searched her and her employee before they took $200 in cash and their cell phones.

"She was really nervous. The only thing that popped up real quick was just to give them everything so they can leave," the translator said.

Next, the robbers targeted a vendor at 57th and Broadway, where the owners knew exactly what to do because they had been victimized before. They quickly ran into a nearby convenience store.

Knowing there were security cameras inside, the suspects took off.

The robbers's third target was the taco stand at 41st and Alameda.

The suspects, 18 to 20 years old, drove away in an older model Lexus with front-right body damage and a partial plate of 5UV.

Melchor said she no longer felt safe, but still had to work. She wanted the robbers caught and put in jail.

Anyone with information about the bandits was urged to call (323) 846-6572 and ask for Detective Davis or the watch commander at the LAPD's Newton Station at (323) 846-6553.

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