Philadelphia Police Searching For Armed Robbery Suspect Targeting Coffee Shops
By Elizabeth Hur
em>PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The search is on for a masked gunman targeting coffee shops.
It's a story you'll see Only on 3.
Police say the suspect may cover his face with a ski mask inside the coffee shops but once outside, that mask comes off. Police say that's when cameras from a neighboring business caught him.
Philadelphia police released that surveillance video in which the suspected bandit is seen walking casually towards the surveillance camera then minutes later caught running away on the same camera.
Police believe the suspect is responsible for three coffee shop robberies in the last 8 days.
Daniel Thut said, "This is where we live and we're very tied to this neighborhood so it does feel disheartening to feel targeted like this."
Thut co-owns the Green Line Cafés, the bandit's shop of choice to rob since last week. The one in Powelton Village was robbed twice most recently this Friday afternoon and earlier on April 30th. The one located in University City was the first one hit on April 26th.
Lt. John Walker explained, "Most times, this guy's going in looking for employees to be by themselves and then takes the opportunity to rob them."
Thut added, "It's not anybody we know or has ever worked here."
But his hope is the public can help police identify the suspect.
"Three times, the gun has been shown so we know he's armed. He's armed and dangerous so we need to get this guy off the street. We think he may be addicted which makes it a little bit more dangerous for these guys because they're not predictable," Walker said.
"A lot of the people that work here live here in the neighborhood. We're very much tied to the neighborhood so it hurts psychologically but also financially it's difficult," Thut said.
Police say it is possible the suspect also lives in the neighborhood as he is last seen running away from each of the robberies.
The suspect is described as a white male in his mid 20s, 5'9" tall with a medium build, brown hair and a thin mustache.
In the surveillance video, he is seen wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt with blue jeans.
Again police say the suspect is armed with a black semi-automatic handgun. Anyone with information about his whereabouts is encouraged to call the police right away.
Watch the surveillance video...
