The Irvine Police Department is asking the public for more information after a video posted to YouTube captured what appears to be a targeted, and attempted armed robbery.

During a City Council meeting on Tuesday, April 27, Irvine Police Chief Mike Hamel said video footage from an elaborate camera system mounted on a nearby vehicle captured a group of individuals who may have been involved in an attempted armed robbery in Irvine.

The video, posted to YouTube by user S K, titled “Armed robbery in Irvine, California 4/25/2021” shows two groups of individuals exit two separate vehicles and try to make contact with another individual, who was walking in the parking lot of the shopping center on Harvard Avenue and Main Street.

“What had occurred — there was a group of suspects that arrived in two separate cars and they confronted a victim who was walking back to his car — the Range Rover,” Hamel explained. “The Victim saw the suspects coming, sensed that something was a miss, and ran into the Rubio’s Restaurant.”

Hamel said IPD is now looking for more information from the public regarding the incident, after making contact with the victim.

“The person that filmed the video, he happened to have an elaborate camera system that that captured multiple camera angles from his own car — he actually called us — if you see the video, you can see that it actually captures a license plate of the victim vehicle,” he said. “We were able to track down the victim — we don’t know the clear motivation of this, but the victim believes he was being targeted because he was wearing expensive jewelry.”

In a series of Tweets IPD addressed the video, adding that the department believes this was not a random act.

“The Irvine PD is aware of a video circulating on social media depicting an attempted armed robbery in the shopping center at Harvard and Main that occurred on Sunday afternoon. We immediately responded to this incident after it occurred and are actively investigating. We do not believe this to be a random act and there does not appear to be any threat to the community. If you have information related to this incident, please contact Detective Haldor Larum at 949-724-7194. (2/2)”

The footage, released by the Irvine Police Department on Tuesday, April 27, shows a group of individuals approach a white Range Rover, with what appears to be a handgun. Hamel said the incident occurred in an Irvine shopping center on Harvard and Main, on Sunday, April 25.

At the 1:21 mark of IPD’s 1:26 second video, a suspect in a red and white sweater with black shorts and white socks makes contact with the Range Rover’s passenger window with the object, which appears to be a handgun.

“One suspect clearly has a handgun in his hand, he taps on the passenger side window with the handgun,” Hamel said.

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