Gary was gassing up his car this morning, when a man approached him to ask for some money. He started with the line, "This isn't very Japanese of me..." and then proceeded to tell him a story about how he's a doctor from Orange County in town to perform a surgery.
His car was broken into and all of his money and possessions were stolen. If Gary gave him $50, he would pay him $500 later in the day. After doing some research we discovered the man's identity. His name is Peter Yanaginuma, and apparently he's been scamming people up and down SoCal for years!
In March 2017 police stopped him from soliciting donations outside of the Manhattan Village mall. In this case, he was pretending to be a police officer, and was arrested for narcotic paraphernalia crimes and for violating probation.
Just last month, he popped up in Sunland-Tujunga posing as a doctor just like in Gary's story. He was also busted at the Ralph's nearby in La Crescenta. This guy is everywhere! Have you encountered "Dr." Peter Yanaginuma before?
Keep your eyes peeled people!