NEWS INFORMATION FROM

THE OFFICE OF MAYOR STEPHEN R. REED
City of Harrisburg
King City Government Center
Harrisburg, PA 17101-1678
Telephone: 717.255.3040

FOR IMMEDIATE USE
5 September 2003

CITY POLICE CONTINUE SEARCH FOR SUSPECTS IN SEPARATE ROBBERY CASES

Harrisburg, PA—Mayor Stephen R. Reed today announced that Harrisburg City Police are seeking the public’s assistance in identifying four different suspects wanted in connection with five recent but separate city robbery cases. Police are looking for information about the two suspects and two possible accomplices who robbed and beat the owner of the Canal Jewelry Store on August 20, 2003, as well as the sole perpetrator of four separate city convenience store robberies that occurred on August 25 and 26. The Mayor said all of the suspects should be considered armed and dangerous and anyone with information about their identities should immediately contact the Harrisburg Bureau of Police at 717.255.3131. Cash rewards are being offered.

Reed said as many as four suspects are being sought in connection with the robbery of a Canal Jewelry Store clerk on August 20. The videotaped incident shows two men entering the store and viciously beating and restraining the clerk before stealing thousands of dollars worth of jewelry. The pair are believed to have fled the scene in a dark-colored, four-door, 1990’s model Acura, which was possibly driven by a third accomplice. Witnesses describe the first suspect, who was believed armed with an older model, dark-colored revolver, as a dark-complected African American male, mid-20’s, approximately 5’8” in height and thinly built, wearing a white or light blue t-shirt, dark blue jeans, black sneakers, a bandanna, and a dark colored baseball cap. The second suspect is identified as a heavily built, lightly-complected African American male in his mid-20’s, wearing long blue denim shorts, a horizontally striped shirt and white sneakers.

Two other potential suspects in the case include a mid-20’s male who may have served as a look-out and driver for the pair, and is identified as being a short, lightly-complected African American or possibly Hispanic with longish hair, and a possible mid-20’s, African American female, who was seen with the suspects prior to the robbery. The robbers were briefly followed by a witness but escaped after fleeing to the north towards Susquehanna Township.

The Mayor said city police are also seeking the public’s assistance in identifying an armed robbery suspect wanted in connection with a series of convenience store robberies that took place on August 25 and 26. The suspect, identified as an African American male, 5’8” in height, stocky build, slight facial hair and wearing a red shirt and stocking cap, robbed and assaulted the clerks in four separate stores in the city within seven hours. The suspect would enter the store, linger for a few minutes until other customers left, and then push his way behind the counter to steal the contents of the stores’ registers. In each of the cases he pushed, punched or otherwise assaulted the clerks he was robbing, and in one case allegedly held a handgun to a clerk’s head. The perpetrator is being sought on multiple robbery and assault charges.

Reed said the spate of robberies began at 10:00 p.m. on August 25, with the suspect’s robbery of the Magic Wok Restaurant, followed by similar crimes at the Kings Food Store at 6th and Division Streets shortly after Midnight, the A-Plus Store at 2nd and Maclay Streets shortly after 2:00 a.m., and concluding with the 5:30 a.m. robbery of a separate Kings Food Market store at 1423 N. 6th Street. The Mayor cautioned that the suspect should be considered armed and dangerous, and anyone with information about him should immediately contact police.

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