Philly police are stepping up efforts to identify the suspect in a string of armed robberies in NE Philly

NORTHEAST PHILADELPHIA – Philly police want you to look at surveillance footage. They say it’s a man who has been on a month-long robbery spree, hitting up stores in the Northeast using a gun to try and get money.

“Wow. Wow,” said Keith Murray and Yazmin McPherson when I showed them the picture. They were leaving an Acme on the 6600 block of East Roosevelt Boulevard Friday night. Police say the suspect attempted to rob the same grocery store at gunpoint Thursday around 5:15 a.m., but didn’t get away with anything.

“There’s usually about 5 or 6 of us here, right? So to me, he’s setting himself up to be caught. It’s still daylight. Someone’s probably going to recognize him by his disguise,” Murray said. The disguise is a mask on the lower part of the face. He also wears black rimmed glasses and a hat.

“He’s pretty bold, he likes to do that,” Murray said.

Police say the suspect has hit eight stores since Sept. 21, striking during the evening. These include two Acme stores, three Dollar General stores, two Dollar Tree stores and one Boston Market.

“He approached a teller at various businesses, pulled out a gun and demanded money,” Capt. John Craig said. Investigators say the robber got away with money in six of the eight incidents. Several thousand dollars in total, they estimate. It is surprising to Mike Dolan that the stores would have a significant amount of cash on hand.

“I think most people pay by credit card. They charge him,” he said. Dolan says he noticed new security on Friday, in addition to the regular guard there.

“When I came out, there’s a guy standing there at the door wearing a bulletproof vest,” Dolan said.

Murray wonders if customers could be next. “If he has the audacity to go into the store and rob the cashiers, he’ll approach someone, like we’re going to the car to drop off our groceries, he could come up behind us and we could be next.”

Most of the businesses are in the North East, apart from one the armed robber hit in Cheltenham.

The Philadelphia Police Department urges anyone with information about these incidents to contact Northeast Detectives at 215-686-3153 or the PPD tip line at 215-686-tips (8477). Callers can remain anonymous.