Police are searching for a suspect in two gunpoint robberies that happened Sunday night about midnight on the 900 block of South 47th Street and on 49th Street near Chester Avenue. Police believe the same man – a black male, approximately 20 years old, about 5-foot-8-inches tall, wearing a green hoody and blue jeans – is responsible for both robberies.

The first robbery happened at about at about 11:45 p.m. when the suspect approached a couple, ages 26 and 28, who were walking down 47th Street near Warrington. Brandishing a silver handgun, the man demanded their cell phones and wallets, which they did. He fled south on 47th Street.

The second robbery occurred about 45 minutes later a few blocks away, near 49th and Chester, when police say the same suspect with a silver handgun demanded money and a cell phone from a 36-year-old male.

None of the victims were injured. Police are asking those with information to call 215-686-TIPS or text short code PPDTIP. You can also submit anonymously here.

The Southwest Police Division has issued a burglary alert in some neighborhoods and is warning residents of an increase in burglaries by distributing flyers in mailboxes, according to West Philly Local readers. The alert also includes tips on how to prevent a burglary at your residence. We wrote about an increase in residential burglaries in the University City area last month.

UPDATE: We learned that the 18th police district is putting out flyers when there is a burglary on the block now. “Kind of a heads up as to what’s going on,” says Joe Murray of Southwest Police Detectives.

Burglaries in West Philadelphia in the past month (Source: Crimereports.com).

Police are searching for a person who robbed the Garden Court Eatery at 4725 Pine Street early Saturday morning, according to Joseph Murray of Southwest Detectives. The robbery happened shortly before 1 a.m. and the suspect is described as a 25-year-old black male with a beard wearing a red hooded sweatshirt and armed with a gun. A female employee was at the store at the time of the robbery, according to police. The suspect took an unknown amount of money and cigarettes and fled the store. No injuries were reported.

This is the second time that the Garden Court Eatery has been targeted in the past month. There was a robbery attempt on January 23 when a male suspect walked into the store, pointed a gun at a female employee and demanded money. After the woman started screaming, the suspect ran away.

Police are searching for the driver of a grey Pontiac minivan who struck a 5-year-old boy this morning at 52nd and Baltimore and fled the scene. The car’s Pennsylvania license plate number is HCA-5975, according to police.

The boy was taken to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and is in stable condition, according to CBS.

If you see the vehicle, call police at 215-686-TIPS (8477).

Here’s a summary of news coming out of our neck of the woods in the past few days and a reminder on a couple of community events this week. Editor’s Note: The meeting on the potential sale of the University City High School has been postponed until Wednesday, Feb. 26.

Provident Mutual Life Insurance Co. building. (Archived photo/West Philly Local).

• Another hurdle has been cleared for the plan to move the police headquarters into the Provident Mutual Life Insurance Co. building at 46th and Market Streets. Last Thursday, Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell introduced two bills that would allow the city to borrow up to $250 million for the project, according to a report by Philadelphia Inquirer. The 87-year-old building has been vacant since 1983, when Provident Mutual Life Insurance Co. moved out, and has been put on the endangered properties list by the Preservation Alliance of Philadelphia.

• A rally was held on Saturday, Feb. 8 to protest recent purse snatching and shootings in Philadelphia. The rally was held at 53rd and Market Streets, the site of the most recent purse snatching, when a 29-year-old woman was shot to death and her companion, a 34-year-old woman, was wounded. Dozens of people attended the event, organized by Handbags 4 Piece, and many people spoke out, including the mothers of the victims (check out the Handbags 4 Piece Facebook page for photos and videos).

• Ground was broken last week at the site of the new high-rise apartment building at 36th and Market Streets. The 28-story 364-unit mixed-use structure is a joint project of the University City Science Center and Southern Land Co., of Nashville. The project, which will also include 14,600 square feet of ground-floor retail space and parking for 200 cars and 140 bicycles, is expected to be completed in spring 2015.

• Residential burglaries are still a cause for concern in University City, according to the latest crime update released by the University City District. Over 20 burglaries took place in the area in January, which is a double of the number of burglaries in December. Three burglary-related arrests have been made. UCD also reports that there were about a dozen robberies in the area, four of them at gunpoint, with arrests made in nine of these cases. August and September were peak months for robberies in the area, with over 30 incidents reported.

• Great news for fried chicken and gourmet donuts fans: Philly’s super popular chain Federal Donuts is close to opening their location in University City. The awnings to their new shop at 3428 Sansom were recently complete:

Awnings at 3428 Sansom, complete! Nice and bright to lead you straight to lunch. pic.twitter.com/ZFpucdlUOC

— FederalDonuts (@FederalDonuts) February 6, 2014

Another tweet by Federal Donuts said that the new location is opening “very soon” but the date hasn’t been announced yet. We’ll keep you posted.

• Two meetings on the sale of vacant schools and other School District of Philadelphia properties in West Philadelphia will take place this week: on Tuesday, Feb. 11 you can learn more about the future of Shaw Middle School (54th & Warrington) and on Wednesday, Feb. 11 (postponed until Feb. 26) there will be a meeting on the potential sale of the University City High School, Drew Elementary School and Walnut Center buildings. Click here for more information. If you missed our story on the Wilson School building’s future, click here.

UPDATED (1/25/14, 9:45 a.m.): Two female suspects in the robbery spree have been arrested, 6ABC reports. Police are still looking for the two male suspects.

(1/24/14, 11:41 p.m.): Police are searching for a group of suspects involved in multiple robberies at West and Southwest Philly shops and restaurants, including three Thursday night robberies and attempted robberies at Stacy’s Pizza (4201 Market St), the Garden Court Eatery (4725 Pine St), and Gold Star Pizza (4627 Woodland Ave).

The robbery spree began last week, on January 18, when a group of four young people – two males and two females –  wearing masks robbed the Subway sandwich shop at 56th and Lancaster after pointing a handgun at an employee. The robbery took place around 6 p.m. and police say that all of the suspects are between 17 and 20 years old. They fled the store in a turquoise sedan. Later that night, at around 10:15 p.m., two males robbed Hibachi Grill located at 3000 Island Ave, also at gunpoint.

Police say the other three robberies and robbery attempts took place Thursday night, in the area between Market St and Woodland Ave and 42nd and 48th streets. The first took place at approximately 10:30 p.m. at the Gold Star Pizza restaurant when an unknown male, described as a 20-23 year-old black male with light mustache and a beard, walked into the store and after looking at the menu demanded money from the cashier. When the cashier attempted to alert other employees who were in the back of the store the suspect pulled a handgun. The cashier told the suspect that she didn’t have any money and the man fled the store, according to police.

The second incident happened about 15 minutes later at the Garden Court Eatery when a man fitting the above mentioned description, walked into the store pointing a gun at a female employee and demanding money. The employee started screaming and the suspect fled the store.

The third incident, at Stacy’s Pizza, took place at around 11:20 p.m. and this time two robbers were able to escape with an unknown amount of cash after pointing a gun at the cashier and forcing her to open the cash register. The robbers fled in a red Jeep Cherokee with tinted windows.

Police have released surveillance video of the incidents and ask anyone with information about these individuals to contact Southwest Detectives Division at 215-686-3183/3184 or call 911 immediately if you see them.