‘Worst ID sketch ever’ leads police to suspect

Pennsylvania police are searching for a suspected thief who was identified from a witness sketch which went viral for its childlike artwork.

An arrest warrant for Hung Phuoc Nguyen was issued yesterday, on suspicion of posing as a market vendor and making off with takings from a market stall in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

The day before, the Lancaster police force had put out a detailed description of the suspect which included a sketch drawn by a civilian witness.

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The cartoon-like drawing, which depicted the suspect in a style which would not have looked out of place in a children’s book, was widely shared on social media, although not in the spirit that investigators might have wished.

The mockery forced the city police to clarify that “this was not done in jest” , Lancaster Online reports.

In a follow-up post, Lancaster Police revealed that Nguyen had been identified a possible subject based both on the description and the unusual “photofit”.

"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 force said.

The witness who drew the much-maligned portrait was then able to positively identify Nguyen from a photo line-up.

Police are searching for the 44-year-old after failing to locate him at his last known address. He faces two charges of theft by unlawful taking, Lancaster Online reports.

After police announced the breakthrough on Facebook, some commenters were happy to eat their words. “As much as I laughed at the sketch, it wasn’t entirely that far off,” one admitted.