Photo via Philly Police Blog.

Police are asking for the public’s assistance to help find the person who they believe robbed five banks in the city in the past month, four of them in the University City area. The latest robbery was Tuesday, May 22 when the suspect, a man in his late 40’s to early 50’s (pictured), entered the PNC Bank branch at 40th and Walnut at around 4 p.m. and and held up the bank at gunpoint.

The suspect was armed with a black semi-automatic handgun in this robbery. He fled on foot with an unknown amount of cash, according to reports.

Police believe this person also committed the following robberies: Continue Reading

Police have provided details about a robbery and assault on Monday night in the Spruce Hill neighborhood.

The victims, a couple, were walking on the 4500 block of Osage Avenue at approximately 9:50 p.m. when they passed three people, one female and two males, sitting on a stoop. As the victims passed, the suspects pushed the female victim, then took her purse and began punching the other victim, according to police. The victims ran, and the suspects fled eastbound on Osage Avenue in an older model green Chevrolet sedan, according to police.

One victim was reportedly injured in the assault, but is expected to be okay.  Continue Reading

A family was robbed and carjacked at gunpoint on the 4600 block of Larchwood Avenue on Wednesday at about 1 p.m., according to the University City District.

Two young adult males approached a family that was exiting their vehicle on the block and asked for money. The family refused to give them any money, and one of the males produced a gun and demanded valuables. The two young men also stole the family’s vehicle.

Two males with the same description attempted to carjack another vehicle a block away about 10 minutes earlier, according to UCD. The driver in that incident refused to exit his car, and the two men fled.  Continue Reading

Police are investigating three gunpoint robberies that happened in Cedar Park, Garden Court and Walnut Hill neighborhoods in the past two weeks, including one at 11 a.m. and another just before 1 p.m.. One of these robberies resulted in an arrest of two suspects. Here are more details from police:

January 14, 46th and Hazel
At approximately 12:50 p.m., two people were walking on the 4600 block of Hazel Ave when they were approached by three young males. Two of them pulled out guns and announced a robbery. The suspects took cell phones from both victims and one victim’s wallet with identification, an unknown amount of cash and credit cards. The suspects then ran eastbound, and then northbound on 46th Street after the incident. The investigation is active and ongoing with Southwest Detective Division. All three suspects are described as black males 17-24 years old. Two of them were armed with small black revolvers, according to police.  Continue Reading

Update (Jan. 30): Police spokesman Troy Brown said there have been no arrests in the CVS robbery as it had been initially reported. The suspect is described as an approximately 6-foot-tall Black male in his 30s with a medium build wearing a “bubble coat,” a knit Eagles hat and a face mask.

The CVS Pharmacy at 43rd and Locust was robbed at gunpoint on Sunday night, according to police. An unknown male wearing a mask walked into the store at around 10:35 p.m., pointed a handgun at the clerks and demanded money from the register. The suspect took approximately $400 and then fled on foot westbound on Locust street.

No injuries have been reported.

Shoplifters pulled knifes at the staff in the same store last year, and a thief pulled a gun at the store manager in 2016.

A robbery suspect was shot and critically wounded by a plainclothes police officer near 49th and Walnut Streets on Tuesday morning, according to reports.

Plainclothes police officers pursued an unidentified male suspect after he allegedly robbed a deli at 52nd and Irving Streets at around 9 a.m. The man reportedly got into a black Chevy SUV near 52nd and Hazel Streets. During the pursuit, the suspect’s SUV collided with another car at 49th and Walnut Street.

After the collision, one of the officers approached the suspect’s car and identified himself, according to a report by NBC Philadelphia, and then shot the suspect once in the chest after he didn’t comply. The suspect reportedly made a motion toward his waistband.  Continue Reading