Two convenience stores and two doughnut shops were robbed at gunpoint Saturday in the San Fernando Valley, and now police are looking into the possibility that the robber might be the same man responsible for Monday’s violent robbery spree in the surrounding counties.
The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating four armed robberies that happened early Saturday in North Hills.
Police say each robbery happened within minutes of each other and were perpetrated by the same suspect.
The first happened around 3:55 a.m. at a business at the intersection of Parthenia Street and Woodley Avenue. About 35 minutes later, another store was robbed at Woodley Avenue and Nordhoff Street. Two more businesses were then robbed at gunpoint along Woodley Avenue at both Devonshire Street and San Fernando Mission Boulevard.
In each robbery, a man came into the store, pulled out a black semi-automatic handgun and demanded money from the store employee. Each time, the employee complied and the suspect escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash. No injuries were reported in any of these robberies.
Police say there was no sign of a getaway vehicle or a bicycle, which leads them to believe the man walked north on Woodley Avenue from crime scene to crime scene.
The suspect in the robberies is described as a Black man between the ages of 25 and 30. He’s between 5 feet 7 inches and 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs between 160 and 180 pounds. During the robberies, he wore a black hoodie, dark jeans and a black face covering.
The description provided by LAPD is similar to that of the suspect wanted in the seven robberies and two killings that took place at 7-Eleven stores early Monday in the Inland Empire and Orange County.
But that’s not where the similarities end; LAPD officials confirmed Tuesday that the two convenience stores robbed in North Hills were also 7-Eleven stores.
Police said detectives are aware of the suspect description in those violent robberies and are not ruling out that the suspect could be the same man.
Detectives from multiple law enforcement agencies are working around the clock, following different leads and partnering together to determine if the same person is responsible for the robberies.
But with five people shot in ten robberies across four counties, members of the community are on edge as they wait for an arrest.
Police also confirmed Tuesday night their belief that the man wanted for the San Fernando Valley robberies might be a transient in the area. Investigators say a body was found near Parthenia Street Saturday and detectives are looking into the possibility that the death may have been a homicide that could possibly be connected as well.
The Los Angeles Police Department is asking any witnesses of these robberies to contact Devonshire Detectives at 818-832-0609. You can also submit an anonymous tip online.