Travel Agent Robbed of Airline Tickets

Two men stole about $60 in cash and 1,500 blank airline tickets from a travel agency Saturday, authorities said.

The armed robbery occurred shortly before 10 a.m. at Simi Travel Services in the 1700 block of East Los Angeles Avenue.

“This has been going on for some time,” Simi Police Sgt. Randy Foushee said of stealing airline tickets.

There hasn’t been another case like it in Simi Valley, but a rash of similar robberies occurred in December at 10 travel agencies throughout the western San Fernando Valley. The robbers generally steal the tickets for resale, officers said.

It was unknown if the Simi Valley heist was related to any of those cases.

In the Simi Valley case, the travel agency’s owner was working alone when the incident occurred. One of the robbers displayed a handgun and bound her hands and feet with an electrical cord before taking off on foot. The owner was not injured.

Police officers brought a K-9 unit to the business to sniff out a trail, to no avail. The victim was unable to give officers a complete description of the robbers.