Crime Stoppers Seeks Suspect in Robberies

Ventura County Crime Stoppers is looking for a robber who wore sparkled gloves to hold up movie theater complexes in Ventura and Thousand Oaks.

Police said the robber, described as a white male in his 30s, used a nearly identical method for the two movie theaters.

Ventura Police Detective Kevin Williams said the robber could be a disgruntled former employee of the Mann Theater chain, which owns both complexes.

The man robbed the Buenaventura 6 on Eastman Avenue in Ventura the night of June 1.

Williams said the robber delivered a note to the cashier demanding money and uttered, “big bills, big bills.” He said the robber fled on foot with $281.

Eight nights later, on June 9, the man used a similar approach to rob the Conejo Twin Theaters in Thousand Oaks, located at the Janss Mall on Hillcrest Drive. He fled with about $300, Detective Ed Wyand of the East Valley Sheriff’s Station said.

The cashier at the Conejo Twin said the man had been gripping a revolver, which was stuck in the waistband under a partly zipped, light-blue jacket.

Crime Stoppers will offer a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest in the case. Informants, who can remain anonymous, should call 986-TALK.

The Crime Stoppers board recently authorized three rewards totaling $550 after the arrests of a Port Hueneme man and a juvenile in an auto theft; a Ventura man who was charged with hit-and-run and driving with a suspended license; and an Oxnard man who was charged with possession of heroin and cocaine for sale.