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Police Search for 'desperate and reckless criminal' Behind One-Man Valley Crime Spree Saturday
The LAPD have released information and a map detailing an early-morning crime spree conducted by one man yesterday morning through the Valley and into the hills around Sepulveda Boulevard in the hopes the public can help identify the suspect.
Possibly spurned by some sort of personal crisis, authorities caution that the suspect can be characterized as a "desperate and reckless criminal."
The man, described as black, with black hair in dreadlocks or corn rows, a beard, 6’-6’1”, 170-180 pounds, and 30-35 years old, last seen wearing black pants, and a tan shirt, began by instigating several attempted and successful car thefts and car-jackings, was involved in a rollover car accident, and continued to attempt to obtain a vehicle illegally while roaming a nearby neighborhood. In fact, the suspect may have sustained injuries during the car accident, however he continued on his spree.
Police chronicle the events as follows:
At around 5:15 a.m., a suspect attempted to steal a car that was parked on Calhoun Street. He failed in that attempt. Thirty minutes later at around 5:45 a.m. the same suspect carjacked a vehicle by simulating to a victim that he had a weapon in his waistband. [...] at a nearby donut shop located in the 13300 block of Victory Boulevard. Thirty-five minutes later at around 6:20 a.m. the suspect had a rollover single-car traffic accident at Sepulveda Boulevard and Skirball Center Drive; the car collided with a tree causing the airbag to deploy. The suspect got out of the vehicle by climbing through the sunroof.
At around 6:40 a.m., the suspect entered a residence in the 3300 block of Redrose Drive and demanded car keys from a 90-year-old couple. The elderly couple managed to push the suspect away and lock the door. Then at around 6:45 a.m., the suspect was seen in a rear yard at a house a short distance away. That home owner chased the suspect away.
One hour and thirty minutes after that, and one-half mile away, at about 8:15 a.m., the same suspect stole a black Eddie Bauer version of a Ford Explorer, license plate 4WVP668.
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