Boy, 11, Falls Victim to Candy Thieves

An 11-year-old Pacoima youth learned about the dirty flip side to an age-old adage: He didn’t take candy from strangers; they took it from him.

The boy was robbed by four teen-agers in a late-model Nissan as he sold snacks door-to-door for a nonprofit group, Burbank police said.

The incident occurred about 5:50 p.m. Wednesday in the 3200 block of Wyoming Avenue as the youth carried candy, cookies, tea and candles in a cardboard box.

A passing car occupied by four teen-agers pulled to the curb, and one asked what the boy was selling.

“When he walked over to the car, the kid in the front passenger seat grabbed his wares and they sped off,” said Sgt. Len Doran of the Burbank Police Department.

Authorities said the nonprofit group, listed in the police report as Junior Careers of Irwindale, had a security van in the area to watch over the 11-year-old and other youths selling door-to-door, but it was not in the vicinity when the incident occurred.

The loss was estimated at $90.

Doran said the unidentified youth learned a valuable lesson in salesmanship.

“I guess he learned that it takes all types out there,” he said. “The kid knows now that you don’t just walk up to cars filled with strangers. If you get bad vibes, you go to the nearest house and you have them call police.”