Man Armed With Syringe Robs Liquor Store

A man armed with a hypodermic needle robbed a North Hollywood liquor store Friday morning and ran away, Los Angeles police said. The robbery was similar to a string of holdups by the “Syringe Bandit” in the San Fernando Valley last year.

The robber walked into Oasis Liquor in the 4800 block of Whitsett Avenue about 11 a.m. and threatened Dalgit Singh with a syringe filled with a clear fluid, Sgt. Thomas Danzek said.

Singh, the shop’s owner, was the only person in the store at the time, Danzek said.

“He said he was going to stick the needle in my neck if I didn’t give him money,” Singh said.

After handing the robber a handful of bills, Singh chased him out of the store until the man threatened him with the needle again, Singh said.

The thief, who was wearing shorts but no shirt, did not say if the liquid in the syringe was harmful, Singh said.

“It could have been water, but I didn’t want to take any chances,” Singh said, adding that the man escaped with $50 to $80.

Police are looking for a white male, who is in his 30s and about 6 feet tall.

The robbery occurred 15 months after police captured Wesley G. Pledger, a Northridge man who threatened store clerks with a hypodermic needle he said was filled with AIDS-tainted blood. In August, 1992, Pledger, who was dubbed the “Syringe Bandit,” was sentenced to 16 years in prison for robbery and assault with a deadly weapon for eight holdups across the Valley.

It was not determined at the time he was sentenced what his syringe contained because it was not recovered. He was not tested for AIDS after the district attorney’s office argued that it would be unnecessary because the needle was a potentially deadly weapon no matter what it contained.