SIMI VALLEY : Robbery of Florist Similar to 4 Others

The fifth flower shop to be robbed in Ventura County this summer was hit Thursday morning in Simi Valley. It was also the second robbery of an area florist this week, authorities said.

A man took an unknown amount of money from the Petal Pusher, 1464 Madera Road, about 10 a.m., said Lt. Neal Rein of the Simi Valley Police Department. The robber, described as 5 feet, 9 inches tall with blond hair, locked the clerk in the bathroom while he robbed the store, Rein said.

A man partly matching that description robbed a Camarillo store Wednesday morning, and two men robbed three Thousand Oaks shops last month by requesting roses or carnations and then demanding cash, authorities said.

At 9 a.m. Wednesday, a robber asked for roses at Mission Oaks Florist, 5255 Mission Oaks Blvd. in Camarillo, and then put a hard object in the clerk’s back, pushed her into the bathroom and took $85, said Sgt. Paul Oechsle of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

The thief was described as a cleanshaven man in his 20s with short, curly hair, Oechsle said.

In early August, two men robbed three Thousand Oaks shops.

In those incidents, the suspects were described as men 25 to 30 years of age and about 5 feet, 8 inches tall. One was cleanshaven with bushy blond hair; the other wore a mustache and had straight blond hair, officials said.

The men entered two stores on Aug. 8 and requested roses. While the clerks got the flowers, one man placed a hard object in their backs and locked them in the bathroom while the other raided the cash registers. They took $75 from Flowers & Gifts by Barbara in Newbury Park about 12:50 p.m. Twenty minutes later, the men entered Flowers & Gifts Just Because in Thousand Oaks and left with $270, authorities said.

On Aug. 6, men fitting the same description requested carnations from Flowers For & Gifts To in Thousand Oaks and then stole $140 from the store and $25 from the clerk’s wallet.