UNION CITY—The Union City Police Department has released a sketch of a man who reportedly robbed a 12-year-old Girl Scout and her mother at gunpoint while they were selling cookies outside of Safeway.
The suspect is described as male between 16 to 19 years-old with a thin build around 5 feet and 4 inches tall or 5 feet and 6 inches tall, authorities said. During the robbery, the suspect was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and dark clothing.
Around 5 p.m. on Wednesday, February 8, the suspect approached Rosa Bennett and her daughter at their table outside of a Safeway store on Decoto Road and asked about the Girl Scout cookies, police said.
While Bennett’s daughter was getting more cookies from their car, the suspect returned and showed her a gun hidden his waistband.
“But he didn’t take it out all the way, but just pulled it up so I could see it,” Bennett said to KTUV News. “I guess for me to see that he wasn’t kidding.”
The suspect took money from Bennett’s purse and fled the scene, police said. The Union City Police Department gathered $1,000 in donations and bought the remaining Girl Scout cookies to help replace the money stolen from Bennett and her daughter.
“We’ve been incredibly lucky. This community here in Northern California is great. The police stepped up, did a lot of things and went above and beyond for this family,” said Heather Burlew-Hayden, a Girl Scouts spokeswoman to KTUV News.
Anyone with information on the suspect or who witnessed the incident is asked to call investigators at (510) 675-5275, or Detective D. Dejong at (510) 675-5227. Anonymous tips can be made by calling (510) 675-5207.
