Sheriff’s officials investigating pair of armed robberies in La Cañada

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is investigating two armed robberies that occurred off Foothill Boulevard in La Cañada Flintridge the early morning hours of Monday and Tuesday, during which three victims reported being robbed at gunpoint.

The first incident took place at around 2:40 a.m. Monday in the parking lot outside the La Cañada Trader Joe’s, according to Lt. Randy Tuinstra, watch commander for the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station. A man was cleaning the area when he was approached by two men, described as black males appearing to be in their 20s.

“They pointed guns at his head and asked for cash,” Tuinstra said Tuesday. “When they took off running, the victim kind of followed them and saw they got into a car and took off for the freeway.”

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The man, who is employed not by the store but a third party company, managed to flag down another person and use their cellphone to call 911, the watch commander added. He told deputies the suspects appeared to be between 5 feet 8 inches and 6 feet in height and each weighed approximately 160 pounds.

Sgt. Alan Chu of the Crescenta Valley Station, who reviewed and assigned both cases for investigation, said both suspects were reported as wearing hooded sweatshirts at the time of the incident. The vehicle they were driving was described as a dark-colored, early 2000s model Toyota sedan, Chu said.

The second robbery occurred at around 1 a.m. Tuesday when two men in their early 20s were walking on the 700 block of Foothill Boulevard, according to Chu. They were ambushed by two suspects, who jumped out from behind some bushes and held them up with black, semi-automatic handguns.

Chu said the suspects, described as two black adult males in their 20s, robbed the victims of their wallets, keys and cellphones and then told them to “run the other way.” One of the victims lived nearby, and so the men ran to his home, where they contacted the sheriff’s department.

While the suspects in the second incident were not seen with a vehicle, the victims said they believe a vehicle may have been parked in a nearby alley. The suspects in the second robbery were reported as being 5 feet 7 inches and 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighing between 140 and 150 pounds.

Chu said detectives are investigating the incidents and hoping to locate video surveillance cameras in the area that may provide more information, but would not say whether the robberies were committed by the same men.

“Robberies in our area are so rare,” the sergeant said. “And two nights in a row, that’s very rare.”

Anyone who might have more information is asked to call the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station at (818) 248-3464.

With not much more to go on, detectives are investigating the incident, asking anyone who might have more information to call (818) 248-3464.

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Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com

Twitter: @SaraCardine