An armed robber remains on the loose and Philadelphia police said his violence is escalating. Surveillance photos show him pointing a gun at store employees while he waits for money.
"It's becoming a very, very dangerous situation," said Lt. Frank Vanore of the Philadelphia police department.
Since December, police said he's struck at least 14 locations in Northeast Philadelphia, Port Richmond, Torresdale, West Kensington and even Bristol Township and Penndel in Bucks County.
"He's hitting all different types of commercial establishments."
Those include Rite Aid, the Dollar Store, Auto Zone, and Wine and Spirit Liquor stores. He's even targeted smaller businesses like Marie's Hair Salon in the 25-hundred block of Clearfield in Port Richmond and El Greco Pizzeria on North 2nd Street in West Kensington.
"He's really carefully picking the store, he's usually picking the closing time around 9-10pm to attack the workers," Lt. Vanore explained.
In each incident he's getting away with a large sum of money, sometimes even several thousand dollars!
The suspect is described as a Caucasian or Hispanic male, about 5'6", fair complexion wearing a gray hoody with a print on the front and dark sweatpants. He's also believed to be carrying two handguns, one that is silver colored.
"Now in several of these instances he's on a cell phone so it's possible that he has a companion or a cohort that he's working along with."
There is a 10-thousand dollar reward for anyone with information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for these robberies.
