Witness Draws Sketch of ‘Asian’ Man Accused of Stealing, Nails It

With the help of a sketch that a witnesses provided to the police, the suspect was identified as homeless 44-year-old Hung Phuoc Nguyen.

Nguyen pretended to be an employee of Central Market while the real employee stepped away on January 30 at 23 N. Market St., according to Lancaster Online. He reportedly took an undisclosed amount of money and fled on foot.

On Tuesday, police officially released all the available details they had regarding the case including the hand-drawn sketch. Nguyen was also positively identified by a witness, investigators, and officers who recognized his physical description.

“This was not done in jest,” the police wrote in a Facebook post referencing the quality of the sketch provided to them.

Nguyen was first described as, “a male 30-40 years of age, 5’04” tall, petite build and was possibly South American or Asian.”

“The suspect was further described as having straight, black hair that covered his ears and that he had wide-set cheekbones and a pointed chin,” according to the official police report.

“After the initial release, some Investigators and veteran Officers recognized the physical description and modus operandi for the theft suspect,” LancasterPD wrote in its latest case update. “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.”

Officers have charged Nguyen him with two counts of theft by unlawful taking. Police checked his last address and whereabouts, but have not been successful.

Anyone who might have information regarding where to find Nguyen is now asked to call Lancaster police at 717-735-3300 or Lancaster City-County Crime Stoppers at 800-322-1913.