Suspect in bakery robbery. (File photo)
Robberies are a common occurrence in the Chinese community of Southern California, and it is no longer “unusual” for robberies to take place in public places such as on the street, as some robbers have even “entered the house” and taken place in stores and private homes. A Chinese woman in Rowland Heights was robbed in her garage; the victim told how she was caught in the garage at the Time of the robbery, and more details about the robber’s features.
The woman named Yvonne drove to a plaza to buy dumplings after work on the afternoon of Feb. 23, and drove Home afterwards. She said she didn’t find anything unusual during the whole process, and returned home at about 6 p.m. She parked her car in the garage and didn’t close the garage door right away, and after she got out of the car, she first planned to put away a blanket she had left in the garage. When she turned around, she saw an African-American man walking towards her from the middle of two cars in the garage and another African-American man walking in from the right side of another car, forcing her inside the garage.
Yvonne screamed when she realized the danger as the two walked in. She said she was thinking about how to call out and how to get help from others. Just as she had time to think more, one of the African-American men grabbed the purse from her hand. At this time, the youngest daughter in the house heard her mother’s cry for help and ran out and chased out to the assailant who snatched the purse. But the youngest daughter did not realize the robber on the other side of the car, the robber pushed her youngest daughter to the ground and then ran away. The youngest daughter suffered minor injuries and bruises on her body.
Her youngest daughter described the incident as she was inside the house when she suddenly heard her mother shouting in the garage, and she thought her mother’s shouting was “unusual” and rushed out of the house. “One of the robbers was tall and had his hair braided in dreads. He was wearing a black or dark blue hoodie with white lettering. He was wearing Edelweiss sweatpants underneath, with three white bars on the side of the pants.” She yelled after the taller robber as she chased him, not noticing the other robber behind her, and she was pushed to the ground and hit in the head by the robber behind her.
Yvonne said it was dark at the time of the incident, and with the dim lighting in the garage, she did not get a good look at the two criminals, but knew that one of the two was taller than the other, and both were wearing dark-colored hooded T’s, with one having a yellow design or text printed on his shirt. She said there should be a total of three perpetrators, because the two who started the robbery got into a silver/grey car and left, when the car was already turned around and ready to escape.
Looking back on the day of the incident, Yvonne did not notice being followed by the car to her home. She suspects that the robbers waited at the intersection and then struck when they saw someone returning home from work and had an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.
After the robbery, a mother and daughter found the “remains” of the purse in the parking lot outside the Burlington store in Punete Hills, and followed the address on the file to find her Family‘s address and return the purse. The purse was gone, but other miscellaneous items were still there.
Yvonne’s youngest daughter went to the Burlington store to review the video and discovered that one of the three robbers was the same one who robbed the bakery in Rowland Heights on Feb. 11. The robber was wearing a dark-colored hoodie with a Chinese character on his shirt. The robber’s car was a silver Honda with a license plate ending in “907”. She said witnesses had seen the tall African-American robber in Stater Bros. with dirty dreadlocks, tattoos on his hands, and carrying a LV backpack.
After the robbery, Yvonne installed cameras in her home and was more careful when parking, closing the garage door before getting out of the car. She wants to remind all Chinese families to be extra careful when parking and observe the surroundings before getting out of the car.
Yvonne said, in fact, the security in the Chinese district has been bad for a long time, her friend had been robbed. She also learned through World Journal that on February 23, the day she was robbed, a Chinese woman was robbed of her purse at the same time outside a Chinese-owned florist in Rowland Heights, so these robberies are common.
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