Police have released surveillance video of three men wanted for committing six robberies in less than half an hour last month.
Investigators said that in each of the robberies, which occurred between 5:30 a.m. and 5:55 a.m. on Aug. 18, the victims were approached by two gunmen on foot while a third man waited in a silver SUV or minivan. In total, the suspects made away with one pager, two wallets, three cell phones, four purses and book bags, a diamond ring and $160 from three men and three women.
Police said the first robbery happened at 5:30 a.m. on the 1900 block of North 30th Street in Strawberry Mansion. A man, 29, was walking down the street when two men approached him from behind, ordered him to the ground and hit him in the back of the head. They fled with his wallet.
Three minutes later and less than a quarter mile away, a woman, 21, walking on the 3200 block of Montgomery Avenue when she passed two men. The men turned around and pointed a handgun at her, taking her purse, iPhone and $30 in cash.
The suspects then apparently took a break. They resumed their spree at 5:50 a.m. about four blocks away at 32nd Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue, with one of the men demanding that a 57-year-old woman who was waiting for a SEPTA bus give the her money. As she surrendered her purse, the second man approached her from behind and took her book bag, jacket, wallet and cell phone.
Mere seconds later and less than a mile and a half away, a man, 51, was walking east on Dauphin Street near 22nd Street when one of the men leveled a gun at him and announced a robbery, then forced him to the ground. The second man then approached him and struck him in the head. The two made away with the man’s book bag, $30 and a diamond ring.
Their next target – a 24-year-old woman waiting for a SEPTA bus about five blocks away at 23rd and Norris streets – was hit three minutes later. A silver SUV with three men inside pulled up at the bus stop and two of the men jumped out of the vehicle, one wielding a gun. When the woman began screaming, the gunman pistol-whipped her. The robbers then took her purse containing her cell phone and $50.
Two minutes after that, at 5:55 a.m., the two men approached a 38-year-old man who was waiting for a bus on the 2900 block of Ridge Avenue, asking him for a light and the time. Both of the men then pulled out guns and took the man’s pager, cell phone and $50. They fled on foot on 20th Street toward Page Street.
One of the gunman is described as a five-foot-seven to five-foot-eight-inch thin black male, about 20 years of age and between 160 and 170 pounds. He was wearing dark pants, a black hoodie that may have had an orange stripe across the chest and a black baseball cap with “Northeast” written on it.
The second gunman is described as a five-foot-seven-inch black male, also about 20 years of age, and was wearing a black hoodie. The driver is described only as a black male dressed all in black, operating a silver mid-size SUV with a black or dark-colored rear bumper.
Anyone with information is asked to submit an anonymous tip by dialing 215-686-TIPS (8477), texting PPD TIP to 773847 or by filling out this online form, or to call the Central Detective Division’s Special Investigations Unit at 215-686-3047.
