Seafood Thief Caught
A man suspected of swiping lobster tails, salmon steaks and shrimp from a Vista grocery store and then threatening employees with a gun was nabbed Thursday by sheriff’s detectives. The 36-year-old man from Northern California was arrested outside his mother’s apartment a few blocks from the Albertson’s grocery store, which is on Vista Way near Bobier Drive, said sheriff’s Sgt. Art Wager. He is being held in Vista Jail on $220,000 bail. The seafood bandit first struck on Dec. 26, taking $100 worth of seafood, Wager said. When store employees tried to stop him, he showed them a silver handgun tucked in his waistband and ran away. He came back on Jan. 4, taking six lobster tails. Store employees who recognized him were too afraid to approach him. The crimes were caught on store surveillance, and detectives circulated photos of the suspect through the neighborhood. Residents pointed to a possible suspect in the apartment on Palomar Place, and undercover detectives made the arrest Thursday. A search for the stolen seafood and gun came up empty.