More crimes reported in the San Fernando Valley, including robbery at Yummy Donuts and break-in at grocery store

GRANADA HILLS, LOS ANGELES (KABC) — On a typical Friday afternoon, a casually dressed man walked into a Yummy Donuts in Granada Hills and wanted to purchase several hundred dollars worth of scratch-off tickets – with no intention of paying for them.

“He looked a little bit shaky,” said owner Chantha Heng. “As if he wanted to do something, he pulled out a gun and said, ‘Give me some more tickets,’ and then I said, ‘Holy (strong expression) a gun’ and I ran to the back.”

The incident occurred around 1:30 p.m. on San Fernando Mission Boulevard. The couple who owned the property ran away, and the suspect ran out the front door just as quickly with $600 worth of stolen scratch-off tickets.

“I was so scared for a moment,” Heng said.

According to police, officers were able to use surveillance footage to determine the suspect’s license plate number and track him down.

Officers then waited outside his house. The suspect eventually came out and a short chase began, police said. Officers found the suspect in his house and took him into custody.

According to police, a replica firearm was found in his house.

For many, it was a scary summer in the San Fernando Valley.

There have been more than a dozen home burglaries in Encino, Tarzana and Woodland Hills in the past month, many of them occurring overnight and some while people were home.

Businesses have also been targeted. On Wednesday, a high-end sneaker store in Encino was robbed. The thieves left the store in such a hurry that they left a pile of cash on the street.

In the city of San Fernando, ten shops were robbed or vandalized within two days at the beginning of August.

One of the burglars was the organic food store Flor De Lima. The same store was burgled again on Saturday at 1 a.m. This means that three burglaries have occurred within just a week and a half.

The first two cases were vandalism, the third was theft.

“They came in, broke down our door, one of our side doors, and stole one of our safes from the store,” an employee said.

According to law enforcement, crime in the Valley, including robberies and burglaries, is down in 2024 compared to the previous year. But ask any of the dozens of victims in recent weeks and it quickly becomes clear that it certainly doesn’t feel that way.

“I am very disappointed because I have lived in the city of San Fernando my whole life and have seen things change drastically, and not for the better,” the employee said.