'Cartoonish' Sketch Leads Police To Theft Suspect

LANCASTER, PA — An amateur sketch provided by a witness that police said may have appeared "cartoonish" led to authorities successfully identifying a suspect wanted for allegedly taking cash from a business and then fleeing the scene.

Police in Lancaster, Pennsylvania say the suspect identified as Hung Phuoc Nguyen, 44, pretended to be an employee at a stand inside a market when an actual employee was away from the stand. Police say he took cash from the business and then fled the scene.

A witness provided an officer with a hand-drawn sketch of the suspect. Police asked anyone with information to contact them. According to police, while the sketch may have been "amateurish or cartoonish" it jogged the memory of one investigator to provide a potential suspect name. It wasn't just the sketch that jogged the investigator's memory, the distinctive physical description also helped in naming a potential suspect.

Police say the witness that provided the sketch was shown a photo array and Nguyen was positively identified.

An officer filed a criminal complaint against Nguyen, charging him with two counts of theft by unlawful taking. A warrant was issued for Nguyen's arrest.

Police have not yet located Nguyen.

Images via Lancaster Police