A woman who was eating at a famous Italian restaurant in Beverly Hills on Thursday afternoon was shot while three men robbed another restaurant, officials said.
Shortly after 2 pm, the three approached a man who was eating a meal at Il Pastaio, on block 400 of Canon Drive, according to a statement released by the Beverly Hills Police Department.
The thieves fled and the woman was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not considered fatal, according to Beverly Hills police captain Max Subin.
A second person was treated for injuries at the scene but was not shot, police said.
Subin said the thieves appeared to be targeting the man, not the restaurant.
A police source who asked to remain anonymous to speak openly about the open investigation said the police believed the man who was stolen was the target of his next-generation watch. The source said the woman’s wound was a superficial wound.
Opened in 1994, Il Pastaio is one of several sophisticated Italian restaurants by chef Celestino Drago, who also runs restaurants in Santa Monica and Los Angeles. A call to the restaurant asking for comment was not immediately returned on Thursday afternoon.
In recent weeks, muggings have increased in some West LA neighborhoods bordering Beverly Hills, including the area near Wilshire, officials said.
Between January 30 and February 15, seven people were stolen from Rolex watches in the area around Mid-City and in the Melrose corridor. Many of the thefts occurred during the day, with criminals targeting people who “wore high quality jewelry, specifically Rolex watches,” investigators said.
The thieves “used various types of vehicles and appear to follow victims of restaurants and shops in the area,” the Los Angeles Police Department said in a press release last month. “In most cases, suspects wait for victims to walk to their vehicles and reach an isolated area before attacking them with a weapon.”