In just under three hours, thieves attacked pharmacies from Woodland Hills to Encino, Friday morning. Jonathan Gonzalez reports for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on Sept. 27, 2024.
The LAPD is looking for four men they believe are connected to break-ins at four San Fernando Valley pharmacies early Friday morning.
Each burglary took place along a 6-mile stretch of Ventura Boulevard between Woodland Hills and Encino between 3:30 a.m. and 6 a.m.
The first took place at the pharmacy inside the Southern California Medical Center in Woodland Hills, where the thieves got away with cash and two safes, but no medication.
Later at 4:30 a.m., police said the men hit a pharmacy in Tarzana by breaking through a back door.
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It’s unclear what they stole from the store, but the owner was watching on surveillance cameras from home and called police.
This is when officers learned there were four men involved riding around in a gray or blue Dodge Durango SUV.
By 5:30 a.m., the men hit a third store — the Encino Care Pharmacy — where the owner was also watching the break-in from home and alerted authorities.
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This time, officers were able to spot the Durango and began pursuing the SUV, only to lose the vehicle minutes later.
That’s when the men stopped by the fourth and final pharmacy of the morning — the Encino Center Pharmacy, but their visit lasted less than two minutes.
Surveillance video shows the men breaking in through the front door, but begin to run back to the SUV as officers approach the store, where alarms were going off.
The men took off with officers close behind, but they were unable to make a stop. Detectives are investigating how much cash and other items, such as medication, was stolen from each store.
Anyone with information is being asked to call the LAPD.
