Sylmar clerk shooting suspect may be serial robber - police

SYLMAR, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A suspect who shot a clerk in Sylmar on Tuesday may be connected to a rash of robberies in the San Fernando Valley, police said Wednesday.

The LAPD believes the suspect is responsible for five robberies in Sylmar and Pacoima. According to detectives, he's robbed an Arco gas station in Pacoima on San Fernando Road twice, first on Sept. 1 and again on Sept. 7. Police have released surveillance video from one of those robberies. Though the video does not show the suspect's face, there is a clear view of the robbery in progress.

Police suspect he also robbed the Cantamar Market in Sylmar on Sept. 3 and the Cortesia Market in Pacoima on Sept. 8.

Those robberies happened between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. No shots were fired at those four heists.

The fifth robbery happened Tuesday at the El Rancho Plaza Market & Liquor. The wounded clerk was listed in stable condition Wednesday.

According to police, the suspect went into El Rancho Market on Glenoaks Boulevard and Roxford Street around 8:30 p.m. The suspect was distracted by a customer for a brief moment, allowing the clerk to arm himself.

"But apparently the clerk hesitated for a moment, and the suspect started to duck out of the way, so they came up firing at the clerk, and end up hitting the clerk," said LAPD Lt. Paul Vernon. "The clerk fired back. The bullets from the clerk's gun actually hit a beef jerky container and sunglass display. Had those not been there, they probably would have hit the suspect."

Police said the suspect got into the passenger seat of either a silver or gray colored Honda civic four-door sedan. In each robbery, the suspect wore a black ski mask and was armed with a 9 mm handgun, police said. The suspect is about 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs around 170 pounds, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the LAPD at 1-877-LAPD-24-7.