Detectives asked for help on Tuesday in identifying a man who posed as a blind customer in order to rob a check cashing store at gunpoint in Wilmington last month.
Surveillance video from the store showed a man with dark sunglasses and a cane enter a California Budget Financial in the 1300 block of West Pacific Coast Highway (map) just before 1 p.m. on July 24.
The man posed as a blind customer and attempted to gain the employee’s trust by filling out paperwork, a news release from the Los Angeles Police Department stated.
The clerk, who did not want to be identified, said the man was in the store for more than an hour and told her he was waiting for his sister to show up from a nearby car wash.
The robber then asked the clerk for some water and she opened the security door to give it to him, police stated in the news release.
“When she does that, he pulls a gun, forces his way into the back room and makes her open the safe,” Detective Thomas Baran of the LAPD said.
The man got away with an estimated $5,000, according to police.
The robber was described as a Hispanic man with dark hair, a dark beard and a large mole on the back of his neck.
He stands about 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighs 180 pounds, according to police.
He was last seen wearing a blue baseball hat, blue shirt and dark pants.
Anyone with information was asked to call police at 310-726-7845.
Those who wish to remain anonymous can contact Crimestoppers at 800-222-8477 (800-222-TIPS).