A Thickly Plotted Robbery Attempt : Incident Involved Sex, Drugs, Gunfire and Car Crashes

Call off the creative minds. Hollywood has produced another real-life crime story more colorful than the average piece of pulp fiction, a tale that included two accidents, drugs, sex, gunfire and, of course, a car chase.

It began with an early morning holdup on a dark street and ended when the victim and her companion crashed into three cars in the parking lot of the Hollywood Division police station. Los Angeles police say the story unfolded this way:

At 3 a.m. Saturday, a man jumped out of a black 1985 Ford Mustang and attempted to rob a woman standing at the corner of Hollywood and Winona boulevards--a pretty tough area frequented by some pretty tough people at that hour.

The woman, whom police described as a prostitute, resisted the robbery attempt. So the man moved on to a second woman who was standing nearby. This time, just as he was in the process of snatching a diamond and gold charm valued at about $150, a car came by and picked up the second woman. The robber got in his car and gave chase.

Somewhere along the way, one of three people riding in the Mustang reportedly fired shots at the woman and her male companion, who was driving a blue 1981 Mercury Cougar. This apparently unnerved the driver, because shortly afterward he veered into the parking lot of the Hollywood station at 1358 N. Wilcox Ave. and careened head-long into three unmarked police cars.

Police, who were happy to discover that the unmarked cars were not badly damaged, identified the robbery victim as Janice Lowe. They said Lowe, 18, has a record of prostitution arrests and resides at a Hollywood motel. She and her companion, identified as Amos Snowden Jr., 30, were not seriously injured.

The driver of the Mustang was not so lucky.

Police discovered the remains of his car near Santa Monica Boulevard and Wilcox Avenue. Witnesses said that the driver had broadsided another car while trying to make an illegal U-turn. Afterward, the driver and his companions jumped out and ran. A can of beer and an athletic shoe were found inside the car. A police check revealed that the Mustang was reported stolen. But something didn’t add up. A full set of keys was found in the ignition.

Investigator Tim Cox and a partner paid a visit to the owner of the Mustang, Oledia Jackson of West 58th Street. Cox noticed that the woman’s son, 20-year-old Everett Jackson, fit the description of the Mustang’s driver and appeared to be nursing a chest injury.

Jackson denied any knowledge of the incident. But a search of Jackson’s room turned up a red and black jacket that fit the description of the one worn by the Mustang’s driver, and a tennis shoe that matched the one found in the car. In addition, Cox said, police found 25 grams of cocaine and a loaded .32-caliber semiautomatic weapon.

Jackson was treated for his injury and booked on charges of robbery, hit-and-run and possession of cocaine. Cox said Jackson has refused to identify the other two people in the Mustang.