Glendora Police reveal new details about the reported robbery near the Bank of America Wednesday afternoon.
The crime was not a strong arm robbery as initially reported by officers. According to Lieutenant Joe Ward, the two suspects, both women, scammed the female victim by switching an envelope in their possession with the victim's envelope, robbing her of over $1,000.
The suspects approached the female victim at the 99 Cents Only Store in Azusa sometime before 3:30 p.m. The primary suspect, who had a South African accent, did all the talking and claimed to be a refugee, police said.
"It was some type of scam where they convinced her to pray over some money," Ward said. The victim had the undisclosed amount of money on her in an envelope and used her car to reportedly drive one of the suspects to the Bank of America in Glendora, the second suspect following in her own car. At some point, the suspects revealed their own envelope and somehow successfully switched the two. The victim had not made a withdrawal as previously reported.
The 42-year-old victim realized her envelope was lighter than before and confronted the suspects about the switch.
The two suspects jumped into their vehicle, at which point the victim jumped into their back seat and all three left together.
"They drove around downtown Glendora for two or three minutes and, for some reason ... they pulled over and our victim jumped out of the vehicle," Ward said. The victim exited somewhere in the 200 block of North Glendora Avenue.
It was unclear to police if the suspects' envelope had anything in it.
The suspect vehicle is described as a maroon four-door, possibly a Lexus.
Suspect number one is a Black female in her 50s (not 15 as originally reported), 5 feet 10 inches tall, heavyset and spoke with a South African accent. She wore a light blue top and matching pants.
The second suspect, but is a Black female, also in her 50s, about 5 feet 4 inches and 115 pounds.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Glendora Police at (626) 914-8250.
Editor's Note: The robbery was initially reported as a strong arm robbery through an officer report on police scanners, but has since been clarified as the victim being scammed of over $1,000. The first suspect's age has been corrected to 50, not 15 as initially reported. The second suspect is also identified as a female, not male as initially reported, according to a police crime broadcast. Patch regrets the error.
