Police are searching for an unknown man accused of targeting doughnut shops in Chula Vista, California, robbing clerks by pretending he’s armed with a weapon, including a mother and her 9-year-old daughter.
The Chula Vista Police Department (CVPD) released surveillance video Tuesday of the robbery involving the young girl. In the footage – captured around 3:40 p.m. on Nov. 10 – the suspect enters an empty doughnut shop, walks up to the counter and begins talking with the girl.
About 30 seconds into their encounter, he raises his left hand and begins touching the cash register. At that point, the girl behind the counter is joined by her mother, who emerges from a back room to find the man touching the register. The mother opens the cash register and hands the suspect some money. As the man flees on foot, the mother and daughter retreat to the back area of the doughnut shop, out of view.
According to CVPD detectives, the suspect is responsible for at least five robberies at two different doughnut shops over the last month, one in the 600 block of Broadway and the other in the 1000 block of Third Avenue.
The most recent robberies were this past Saturday when he hit both shops within three hours, the one on Broadway around 7 p.m. followed by the shop on Third Avenue around 10 p.m.
Police said each robbery is similar: the man enters the business and confronts the clerk while simulating a weapon in his jacket pocket. Once the cash register is open, he grabs the money and flees.
Investigators describe the suspect as a white or Hispanic man between 22 and 28 years old. He’s approximately 5-foot-10 to 6-feet-tall and 225 to 275 pounds with a thin mustache. In the heist caught on camera, the suspect wore a maroon, sleeveless hooded sweatshirt with the Salisbury University (Maryland) logo on it, a black baseball cap, black shorts and red shoes. No getaway car was used in any of the robberies, as the suspect fled on foot, police said.
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No victims were injured in the robbery series. The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information on this man should contact the CVPD at (619) 691-5075 or (619) 691-5151.
