14 DAY TRIAL // The LAPD have two suspects in custody for the robbery and hostage situation that took place at Nordstrom Rack in Westchester, last week.
According to the L.A. Times, authorities have not released the men's names nor what their roles in the robbery were.
14 employees were held hostage starting at around 11 p.m., on Thursday night, January 10, at the Howard Hughes Center Promenade.
The shopping center area was closed off, as 14 employees were held inside, at gunpoint. At 3:30 a.m., police broke in to free the hostages.
3 of the 14 men and women have been injured, reports say. One of the victims was hit with a gun, while another was stabbed in the neck area. The woman's injuries were non-life-threatening.
The third employee may have been raped, as the hostages were being held in a storage facility. She was moved to a different room and assaulted. Two of the people trapped in the store hid in the restroom as the assailants closed it down.
One of the people of interest in the robbery was apprehended on Friday, and police approached the second man the next day, at a motel in Phoenix.
CCTV footage from inside the shopping center has been examined by officers at the LAPD Robbery-Homicide division. They are also looking into surveillance clips from stores and restaurants nearby the Nordstrom Rack.
Physical evidence taken from the crime scene has also been analyzed. Officers conducted interviews with witnesses to get as many details as possible on the culprits.
Sources in law enforcement have stated that they have many items of evidence linking the men they have in custody to the armed robbery. Prosecutors are set to announce whether or not they will be arresting them, in the course of this week.