In what is a surprisingly peaceful solution to a series of armed robberies against 22 taco trucks in East Los Angeles, Nery Perez (right), 21, walked into the sheriff’s East Los Angeles station at about 5 pm yesterday afternoon and was taken into custody. He was booked on charges of robbery.

On Thursday, he had been announced as the fifth suspect in a bunch of taco truck armed robberies, most of which took place late in the evening between April 5 and June 27, 2009. The targeted trucks were mainly along Olympic Boulevard, Cesar Chavez Avenue and Whittier Boulevard, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Spanish-language channel Telemundo noted that they were suspected of taking an estimated $7,000.

All five were part of the Fearless Kings (FLK) tagger crew, who, according to La Opinión, had been hoping to use the robbery as a way to “elevate” their status from mere taggers.

At least four other members of the crew have been arrested Thursday in connection with the robberies: Samuel Razo, 20; Miguel Torres, 21, Julio Osuna, 21; and Jesse Moreno, 18.

But what’s most interested about this case is that it relied heavily on the cooperation of the new Associación de Loncheros, the Times adds.

[The Association's Alfredo] Magallanes said the truck vendors did not report the crimes right away because they were under the false impression that a county ordinance prohibiting catering trucks from parking in one spot for more than an hour was still in effect. The ordinance, however, was overturned only months after it was passed in April by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

But Magallanes said some police officers are still implementing the former ordinance. Fearing further problems with police and possibly retaliations from members of the tagging crew, the truck vendors instead did not initially report the crimes.

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