Gasland gets robbed again
By JOHN MANGALONZO
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One week after two men were charged in connection with a series of armed robberies last year, Burlington Police detectives are back scouring the streets looking for a man who robbed a convenience store late Wednesday night.
Though well-lit at night, Gasland at 1204 N. Eighth St. has again become the center of a police investigation involving an unidentified man, possibly with a gun, who disappeared in the cover of darkness.
This time, the robbery took place inside the store as compared to last year’s incidents reported to have occurred in the store’s parking lot.
Police said a black man, described as 5 feet and 5 inches tall, weighing approximately 180 pounds and wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans, came in the store at 9:31 p.m. Wednesday and demanded money from the clerk.
It was not clear whether the suspect yielded a gun, but police said the clerk was led to believe the suspect had a weapon.
Sgt. Adam Schaefer said after a few minutes, the suspect left the store with an undisclosed amount of money.
The clerk, who was not injured, did not see if the suspect left on foot or in a car.
A store employee who declined to be identified said the clerk who was on duty the night of the robbery was shaken by the ordeal and took time off. The clerk had told her, who was not at the store the night of the burglary, the suspect reached over the counter and went for the cash register.
“He just gave him what he wanted,” the employee said. “Then the man (suspect) left in a hurry. It was just a matter of a few minutes.”
Last week, prosecutors charged 37-year-old Leroy Mallet Williams of Chicago and 39-year-old Phillip Dwayne Jones for the separate robberies that took place in the store’s parking lot as well as other robberies in the city last year.
Authorities ask anyone with information about the incident to call the police department at (319) 753-8366 or Crime Stoppers at (319) 753-6835.
Tags: burglary