Updated February 09, 2018 16:31:19

Photo: Police released the cartoonish sketch of the suspected Central Market thief. (Twitter: Ali Bradley)

Police have identified a suspected thief using an "amateurish and cartoonish" sketch.

Lancaster Police in Pennsylvania said a man pretended to be an employee at a stand inside the city's Central Market before taking off with cash.

A witness provided a simple ID sketch to police — a cartoon drawing of a man with no eyebrows and small circles for eyes.

"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," Lancaster Police said.

Photo: A witness identified Hung Phuoc Nguyen from a photo line-up. (Supplied: Lancaster Police)

After the theft in January, the suspect was described as being aged between 30 and 40, about 150 centimetres tall, of petite build and possibly South American or Asian.

The witness also described him as having straight, black hair, wide-set cheekbones and a pointed chin.

Using the description and sketch, police created a photo line-up and the witness identified the suspect as 44-year-old Hung Phuoc Nguyen.

Police are currently searching for Mr Nguyen and a criminal complaint has been filed, charging him with two counts of theft by unlawful taking.

Topics: law-crime-and-justice, united-states

First posted February 09, 2018 16:11:31