A suspected burglar posing as a seller of Skittles and M&Ms got out of the way at the last second as his three alleged accomplices rushed past him and invaded a home in California’s Central Valley.
The suspects “stole personal belongings and then ran out of the house,” the Stockton Police Department said on Facebook. The home is located on Joplin Lane in Stockton, which has a population of about 310,000.
“Officers met with the victim who advised she answered a knock at the door to one of the suspects, who was posing as a candy vendor. A short time later, armed suspects rushed past the victim and went inside the house,” the police said.
In a video of the incident captured by a security camera, it first appears that the candy seller is just an innocent bystander walking away from the home, but he quickly turns and heads back toward the premises while reaching for what appears to be a balaclava or a ski mask from his pocket. He puts it on but then soon takes it off and is shown walking away from the scene.
The footage begins with the man wearing a COVID-19 protection face mask and standing in front of what looks to be a door to the home. He can be seen holding a box of what appears to be sweets, including Skittles and M&Ms, and interacting with a person from the home.
The candy-seller suspect then bends to one side, apparently to handle some cash. Three men are then seen running toward the home and rushing past him, with at least two of them apparently carrying firearms.
Noises can be heard coming from inside the home.
The police have shared the footage in a bid for people with any related information to contact them. “The Stockton Police Department is encouraging anyone with information to call our non-emergency number at (209) 937-8377 or the Investigations Division at (209) 937-832,” the statement said.
The police investigation is ongoing. No names have been released, and it was unclear at the time of writing if anyone inside the home was harmed during the incident.
A person has a 1 in 32 chance of becoming a victim of a property crime in Stockton, according to crime statistics compiled by the Neighborhood Scout website. It lists the chances of becoming a victim of a violent crime in California’s 11th most populous city as one in 79, much greater than the one in 227 chance for California as a whole.
Edited by Richard Pretorius and Kristen Butler
