Rash of massage parlor robberies in LA County

(FOX 11) - Massage parlors across Los Angeles are spreading the word about a man going into shops and stealing cash.

Juri Tippate, owner of Blue Lotus Thai Massage on Washington Boulevard in Culver City, said on Monday, October 30 a man came into her parlor and said he wanted a massage.

She said he told her he wanted to wait for his wife who was on the way.

Tippate said the man asked to use the restroom and when she stepped away from the front counter, he rushed out the restroom to took money that was on the counter.

"The door is open and I checked. It's all gone," she continued. "He went out and real fast and I don't know he go left or right. I didn't see anything."

Tippate had cash out because she was sorting it out to pay her employees for the week.

"I hope that the police can sometime look around here," she told FOX 11's Leah Uko as she pointed to the front door.

FOX 11 spoke with massage parlors in Redondo Beach, Burbank, Marina Del Ray, Echo Park and Santa Monica.

All owners said the man told the same story about waiting for his wife.

Two parlors in West LA recognized the man from pictures shared online.

"In the picture he's big, huge and then he came and I'm like 'oh a little bit smaller'," Marut Manorap with The Massage Place said.

The man ended up leaving that parlor and went into another parlor down the street, but left there without stealing as well.

Regardless of the failed theft attempts, as of Sunday night there was still a lot of money missing from the parlors that were robbed and the man the owners said stole from them was still roaming free.

A thought not sitting well with Tippate.

"It's not, look like it's not safety. I think something might happen to me if I sit in here. He could have a gun or a knife."