Laptop, cell phone returned to BWP employee

A laptop and cell phone were returned to a Burbank Water and Power employee Wednesday after the items were stolen from him while he was walking to his car the day before, police said.

A person dropped the items off at the front desk of BWP and the employee, Mahesh Saraswat, informed police that he had his city-owned phone and personal laptop were in his possession, Burbank Police Sgt. Darin Ryburn said.

Saraswat was leaving work and walking in the 100 block of West Magnolia Boulevard shortly after 6 p.m. on Jan. 10, beneath the underpass toward his car, when he was confronted by two men, Ryburn said.

The men, described as black, about 5-foot 8-inches tall and weighing about 120 to 140 pounds with dark clothing, reportedly came up from behind and demanded he hand over the computer and cell phone.

“One suspect grabbed the case and began to pull away,” Ryburn said. “There was a shoving match, [the employee] was trying to hold on to it,  the seams of the shoulder-holder ripped and the victim loses control of it.”

The suspects were last seen running toward a parking structure on Magnolia but were not located, Ryburn said.

The investigation remains ongoing, he said.

-- Maria Hsin, Times Community News

Twitter: @mariahsin

[Editor's note: This post has been updated from a previous version originally posted at 1:43 p.m. on Jan. 11.]