Armed Robbers Targeting Students Near Pleasant Grove
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Police are searching for a pair of armed robbers who have targeted five students in Pleasant Grove since April 26, according to Dallas Police Department incident reports.
Several of the students were robbed while walking home from school, including one incident that occurred across the street from John B. Hood Junior High in the 7700 block of Hume Street.
A Dallas Police tweet Tuesday indicated they're looking for two Hispanic men in a black pickup truck with chrome wheels. On Tuesday evening, Dallas Police issued a media release saying the suspects are between 18 and 25 years old; one may have tattoos on his arm.
All the victims are in "their mid-to-late teens," said Dallas Police spokesman James Walton in a statement.
The Dallas Independent School District became aware of these robberies on Tuesday, district spokeswoman Sandra Guerrero said.
According to police incident reports, the thieves in two of the crimes jumped out of their pickup truck and displayed a handgun.
Police say the gunmen are stealing jewelry from the students. The victims said they either had necklaces or chains pulled from their necks
One victim, who asked not to be identified, told CBS 11 that he and his girlfriend were walking home from school when the armed robbers approached them. One of the men them tore the necklace from his girlfriend's throat.
On April 26, a Dallas Police incident report says a victim and a witness were walking home from a basketball court near 1800 Prichard Ln. when they noticed a "blacked out" truck driving suspiciously. The driver circled the block and parked the truck.
Two suspects then walked toward the victim and his friend with "an unsettling stare in their eyes" and asked for a lighter. The suspect then punched the unidentified victim in the chest and snatched his necklace from his neck.
The suspect "pulled with such force that it tore complainant's black T-shirt right off his body," the incident report says. The suspects fled.
On May 1, an incident report describes the suspects approaching a victim at 2800 Don St. and stealing a cell phone at gunpoint and fleeing. Then on May 10, the suspects walked up to a victim in the 7700 block of Hume Dr. and violently pulled a necklace and a medallion valued at $400 from a victim's neck and fled, darting through residential yards.
The victim said the man was wearing a light blue shirt with blue shorts and had bushy hair.
The final incident happened on May 14 –– again, the suspects drove past a female student walking home from school in the 7000 block of Forney Rd. and made a u-turn. The man in the passenger seat exited truck with a handgun and demanded the girl hand over her necklaces.
The incident report says the suspect threatened to shoot the girl if she screamed. The stolen necklace and a Lady of Guadalupe medallion were valued at $1,000, the report says.
"The school should have informed parents to let us know what's going on," said parent Teresa King as she picked up her child outside John B. Hood Junior High School.
If you have information about the crimes or who the men are, Dallas Police ask you call the gang unit at 214.671.4264. Information can also be sent through mobile phones using the iWatchDallas.net app.
Guerrero said DISD Police will begin adding patrols before and after school lets out. Below is an image of where the four robberies happened:
