Chaos erupted at a Macy's in Simi Valley when a hammer-wielding thief smashed display cases and grabbed valuable goods before leading cops on a high-speed chase. The Simi Valley Police Department was flooded with 911 calls just before 8 p.m. on November 30, as panicked shoppers reported the brazen robbery at 1475 Simi Town Center Way, according to the report by the Simi Valley Police Department.
The suspect, identified as 44-year-old Lande Butler of Palmdale, CA, quickly fled in a white getaway car. The police were ready to immediately spring into action, but the culprit wasn't going to give up without a fight. Their officers quickly located the suspect's vehicle speeding eastbound on the 118 freeway. Despite their attempts to carefully initiate a traffic stop, Butler wasn't going to lightly give in, leading police on a dangerous pursuit that ended with him ditching the car and fleeing on foot into a nearby residential area.
The audacity of the crime does not end with the robbery itself. It cascades into the chase, the desperate sprint of a man into the arms of law, forcing the hand of justice to weigh in, called forth by the break of glass and the silent alarm screaming into the black sky. The perimeter set by the officers became a net, drawing tighter with the help of the LAPD Air Support and the keen senses of the Simi Valley Police Department K9 unit. And there, without incident, in the theater of suburban streets and watching eyes, Lande Butler was apprehended.
Mercy, for it is a grace that none were harmed in this storm. The officers managed to recover approximately $6,000 in stolen merchandise, swiftly returning it to its rightful place in Macy's tendered arms. The Ventura County Jail would become Butler’s new residence, where he was booked for Robbery and Evading a Peace Officer.
