A group of three men are suspected in a series of overnight robberies in the East and South Precincts.
SPD robbery detectives believe the trio of suspects first approached a man and a woman at 16th Avenue and Mercer Street around 10:40 PM Sunday night. The suspects, who had hooded sweatshirts pulled over their faces, pulled guns on the victims and demanded cash and cellphones before fleeing the scene.
The victims told police they heard what sounded like a “cap gun” going off as the suspects fled. Officers tried tracking one victim’s cellphone, but were unable to locate it.
About two hours later, just before 12:30 PM, police received two back-to-back reports of robberies on Beacon Hill. First, a woman reported a group of suspects had flashed a gun in the 3000 block of 14th Avenue S. and threatened to shoot her if she didn’t hand over cash.
Minutes later, police received another report from a man, who said several suspects had approached him as he was getting out of his car in the 2900 block of 15th Ave S–just a few blocks away from the first robbery on Beacon Hill–and demanded cash and credit cards. Again, the suspects fled.
In a fourth case, a woman reported three masked suspects had approached her in a parking lot at 19th Ave and Main St. just after 1 AM and demanded her wallet and cell phone before they fled. The victim told police she heard what sounded like a gunshot as the suspects ran off.
K9 teams assisted in searching for the suspects throughout the night, but were unable to locate the men. No one was injured in the four incidents.
The suspects reportedly covered their faces with sweatshirts or bandannas during the incidents, and victims were only able to describe them as Hispanic men in their 20s. Detectives believe all four cases are connected and are working to track down additional details about the suspects.
If you have any information about these cases, please contact the SPD Robbery Unit at (206) 684-5535.