Phoenix police looking for suspects in 2016 aggravated robberies
May 24, 2021, 10:30 AM
(Facebook Photo/Phoenix Police Department)
This article originally appeared May 23, 2016.
Phoenix police need help with two very different aggravated robberies.
In our first case, two young men entered the Radio Shack at 16th Street and Indian School Road on April 7, 2016.
Phoenix Police Sgt. Jamie Rothschild said, at first, the suspects pretended to be customers and the clerk even engaged them in conversation. But when they found the Bluetooth speakers they were looking for, they just took them right out the door.
“As they were leaving, one of the suspects took out a can of pepper spray and pointed it at the clerk,” Rothschild said.
The clerk wasn’t hurt but that doesn’t make it any less serious.
“There are two trends we’re seeing,” Rothschild said. “Stores are using better surveillance equipment which makes it easier to identify the suspects.
“The other trend is when these types of crimes are happening, you can usually look around and see people are typically on their cellphones and not paying attention to their surroundings. We don’t want them to intervene, but by being more aware of their surroundings they can be better witnesses and it makes them safer as well.”
Next, a 21-year-old woman is followed home from the store and attacked in front of her apartment.
It happened March 15, 2016, just after 7:30 p.m. The woman was walking home by herself from WalMart near 36th Street and Thomas Road in the dark when two men began following her.
“In this case, they physically accosted her and threw her to the ground while fighting with her to try to get her purse,” Rothschild said.
The woman wasn’t seriously hurt but this could have turned out a lot worse.
If you need to walk somewhere, especially at night, you’re encouraged to call a friend or someone else you trust to go with you and avoid walking alone.