A simple hand-drawn sketch that many people made fun of online turned out to work well in helping Lancaster, Pennsylvania police find a theft suspect. The incident happened on January 30, 2018, when a man pretended to be an employee at a vendor stand inside Lancaster’s Central Market. He stole cash while the real employee was away and then ran off before the police showed up.
According to CBS News, a witness at the scene gave police a basic black-and-white drawing of the suspect. The sketch showed a face with simple features, including straight black hair covering the ears, wide cheekbones, and a pointed chin. When police posted the drawing on their crime watch page, it quickly went viral on social media. Many people laughed at the amateur sketch, calling it childish and comparing it to a simple doodle.
Even though people made fun of it, the cartoonish laughable police sketch actually did its job. Lancaster police stood up for the drawing in a Facebook post, explaining how it helped their investigation. The sketch, along with a detailed physical description from the witness, reminded at least one investigator of a possible suspect.
“While the sketch provided by the witness may have appeared amateurish and cartoonish, it, along with the distinctive physical descriptors, jogged the memory of at least one investigator to provide a potential suspect name,” the police statement said.
How the sketch led to an arrest
Investigators put together a photo lineup and showed it to the witness who had given the original sketch and description. The witness said yes, that 44-year-old Hung Phuoc Nguyen was the person who had impersonated the stand employee and stolen the money. Police filed criminal charges against Nguyen for two counts of theft by unlawful taking. A warrant went out for his arrest on February 7, 2018.
The case got attention all across the country as news outlets reported on the unusual sketch that actually worked. Big newspapers including the Washington Post and the Seattle Times, wrote about the story. Police checked Nguyen’s last known address but didn’t find him there at first.
On February 9, 2018, just before midnight, Lancaster City Police arrested Nguyen in the 600 block of Manor Street near Caroline Street in Lancaster City. The arrest went smoothly without any problems. Nguyen was held at Lancaster County Prison with bail set at $1,500.
The case shows that even simple witness sketches can help police when paired with good physical descriptions. While the drawing may have looked basic, it had enough unique features to help investigators figure out who the suspect was. The story has since become one of many examples of criminals making dumb mistakes that led to their capture.
