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'Backpack Bandit' Targets Elderly, Blind Women In Little Tokyo

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Police on Thursday said a man who has targeted elderly women in Little Tokyo struck again in broad daylight — and it was all captured on videotape.

The so-called "Backpack Bandit" was caught on camera running from the scene after he stole a necklace off the neck of 79-year-old woman seen in the video pushing her walker.

Police said a blind women was robbed of her necklace back on July 24 nearly one block away from the attack on Wednesday.

KNX 1070's Bill Polish reports the suspect got the nickname for the small black child-sized backpack he is seen wearing in the video.

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LAPD Lt. Paul Vernon described the suspect as short, about 5'5" in height, Hispanic, and likely a resident of the neighborhood between 1st and San Pedro streets.

"Talking to some merchants in the toy district and describing this guy, they all recognized who he is and said he steals from them quite a lot as well," said Vernon, "so we'll be looking for him and we suspect we'll be able to find this guy fairly quickly.

Vernon said over the past two weeks, the suspect has primarily targeted elderly Asian women that are either blind or in walkers.

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