MOORPARK : Group Offers Reward in Holdup of Student

Ventura County Crime Stoppers is offering up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest of a knife-wielding bandit who robbed a student in a Moorpark College restroom.

The victim, an 18-year-old Woodland Hills man, was held up at knifepoint about 8:30 a.m. Oct. 10 while in a restroom near Building S on the Moorpark campus, sheriff’s deputies said.

The freshman, whose name was withheld for fear of retaliation, told deputies he was approached from behind by a man who put a five-inch serrated knife to his side and said, “Yo, give me your money,” Sgt. Kitty Hoberg said.

She said the student complied, pulling about $40 from his wallet and handing it to the thief, who fled after taking the student’s backpack. The robber ran up some stairs to a parking lot and escaped in a white, late-1980s Ford Mustang driven by an accomplice, who turned left onto Collins Street while speeding away, Hoberg said.

The robber, whose head was fully or partially shaved, was described as a black man about 20 years old, 6 feet tall and 150 pounds. He wore a long baggy shirt and black baggy pants.

Crime Stoppers, a private, nonprofit program in Thousand Oaks, invites anyone who might have seen the suspects or their license plate number to call 494-8255. Callers can remain anonymous.