LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE – Deputies are still looking for the armed man in black gloves who robbed a Starbucks of about $1,500 then hit a 70-year-old customer he encountered on his way out.
The takeover robbery happened about 9 p.m. Saturday in the 400 block of Foothill Boulevard. At the time, deputies said there were two employees in the store and one customer – a 70-year-old Seattle woman who was visiting the area.
A man armed with a handgun showed up at the store and threatened to kill the employees if they didn’t give him the money from the cash registers and the safe, according to sheriff’s Sergeant Ray Harley.
After the clerks handed over cash from the registers, Harvey said the robber forced them into the storeroom. The gunman ordered one to lie on the floor and had the other employee give him cash from the safe.
The victims were ordered to remain on the floor as the robbers walked out of the storeroom with the money.
The customer wasn’t aware that a robbery was happening. She started to leave, knowing it was closing time.
Harley said the woman stopped at the counter to tell the clerks she was leaving since she was the only customer left. She could hear a commotion in the back storeroom.
“Moments later, the suspect walked quickly out of the storeroom and he said something to the woman,” Harvey said.
“Still not realizing the man was robbing the store, she asked him to repeat himself because she didn’t understand what he said.”
The woman then noticed the man was pointing a gun at her. He hit her in the face using the hand that held the gun. She fell to the floor and hit her head.
The robber was last seen leaving through the front door.
Lt. Marjory Jacobs said the woman sustained scratches and contusions. She was treated at a local hospital and released.
The suspect was described as a black man, 28 to 32, between 6 foot to 6 foot two inches tall and weighing between 180 to 210 pounds.
He wore a long black jacket, a black shirt, baggy blue jeans, a black baseball cap with a white logo and black gloves.
The lower part of his face was covered with either a black scarf or the collar of a turtleneck shirt.
Anyone with information on the robbery is asked to call the Crescenta Valley Station detective bureau at 818-248-3464.
Anonymous tipsters can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS. They can also text the letters “TIPLA” plus the tip to 274637 or use the website http://lacrimestoppers.org
– Ruby Gonzales
