By Lookout Staff

July 14, 2023 -- A suspect involved in a series of armed robberies that targeted restaurant valet drivers was sentenced to 18 years in prison for a 2021 kidnapping and robbery in Santa Monica.

LA County prosecutors informed Santa Monica police on June 28 that defendant Davon Watson, 36, had pleaded guilty prior to trial and sentenced.

Watson -- who was one of two suspects involved in the September 10, 2021 incident -- escaped and was eventually identified by detectives and arrested, police said.

The incident began when officers responded to an armed robbery report at La Condessa Restaurant, 1519 Wilshire Boulevard, shortly after midnight.

Detectives at the scene learned that the two suspects, one of them armed with a handgun, tried to rob a valet, then carjacked a woman picking up her car.

The victim was driven around the block and eventually released unharmed, according to police.

Officers arriving at the scene "spotted the suspects fleeing in another vehicle at a high rate of speed," police said.

The suspect vehicle crashed at the intersection of 26th Street and Wilshire Boulevard, and both suspects fled on foot.

Officers quickly established a perimeter, and SMPD coordinated a search with the assistance of officers from the Beverley Hills and Santa Monica College Police Departments, along with SMPD K9s and the Drone Team (UAS).

It was raining, and the department had a hard time getting helicopters police said at the time.

The officers quickly located one suspect, identified as Steve Bryan Brown, a 21-year-old male from Anaheim, along with a Smith and Wesson loaded 9mm handgun.

Brown was taken into custody without incident and booked for robbery, carjacking and kidnapping, but Watson escaped.

Police determined that both suspects were responsible for a series of armed robberies that targeted restaurant valet drivers.