Sheriff's officials are asking the public's help to find a man who is suspected in several robberies in January and allegedly in last week.
The suspect was caught on camera entering Walgreens without a backpack, according to Sheriff's Detective Rodger Burt of the Crescenta Valley Station. Students are asked by store employees, who are supposed to watch the bags while students shop, to leave their bags at the front.
"He buys some syringes, comes right back in and leaves with a backpack," Burt said. "He walked out of the store, walked back in grabbed the backpack and left. Somebody who knows this guy who saw that video could recognize him."
The Montrose girl returned and saw her backpack was missing, he said. The store manager photographed the victim drive off with the backpack in a 2005 Chevy van.
Deputies ran the vehicle license plate number and arrived at the address the vehicle was registered to in Tujunga. The vehicle's driver, who did not meet the victim's description, said he had gone with his friend to Walgreens, but he did not go inside the store. Deputies performed a routine check on the vehicle's driver and discovered he had a warrant for failure to appear. Deputies brought the driver to the Crescenta Valley Station where he was cited and released.
The suspect, whose name was not available, is described as a man in his 20s with brown hair. He was last seen wearing a black sweatshirt, blue jeans and carryinga white package of syringes in his hand.
Investigators believe this suspect could be connected to , including on at the Crescenta Valley High School track and another near Rosemont Middle School.
CVHS surveillance video captured grainy footage of two suspects entering the track at the time of a robbery. The suspect allegedly asked the victim to borrow her cell phone and then stole the 27-year-old woman's phone.
Investigators aren't sure yet where the suspect lives, but officials believe the suspect in surveillance video lives in the area, Burt said.
"We’re trying to see if somebody can identify them based on what they see," Burt said.
Anyone with information about the robberies or suspect is urged to call the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Crescenta Valley Station at (818) 248-3464.
