The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department is asking for the public’s help in identifying a suspect in a robbery Friday evening at a grocery store in Isla Vista.
About 5:30 p.m., sheriff’s deputies and UCSB police officers assigned to the Isla Vista Foot Patrol responded to a report of a theft in process at a store in the 900 block of Embarcadero Del Norte, according to Sgt. Daniel Calderon.
He said the store manager reported that he had confronted a female shopper suspected of stealing alcohol and personal hygiene items.
The suspect reportedly said she would give the stolen items back before a struggle broke out between the manager and the suspect near the exit, according to Calderon. The suspect then is accused of fleeing with the items and hitting the manager twice in the face.
The stolen items were recovered, Calderon said, but the suspect remains at large and last was seen running westbound on Pardall Road from Embarcadero Del Norte.
Calderon said the suspect was described as a college-age female with shoulder-length dark hair, a medium complexion and a thin build. She was last seen wearing a black zipper-front sweatshirt, blue jeans ripped on both thighs and black sneakers with white stripes.
The incident is being investigated as a robbery, according to Calderon.
Anyone with information about the incident or who can help identify the suspect to call the Isla Vista Foot Patrol at 805.681.4179 or the sheriff’s department’s anonymous tip line at 805.681.4171. Anonymous tips also can be submitted online by clicking here.
— Noozhawk associate editor Michelle Nelson can be reached at mnelson@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
