Brake in the Case

Police charge a teenager in connection with Fairmount robberies.

by Dan Keashen

One down, a few more to go. Ninth District Police Capt. Dennis Cullen said Tuesday that officers apprehended a teenage suspect in connection with a string of armed robberies in Fairmount [News, "Wheel and Steal," Dan Keashen, Aug. 26, 2004]. The arrest, however, doesn't mean the case involving bicycling robbers is closed.

"These guys are acting as a team with lookouts on different blocks so there are still guys out there," says Cullen, noting that police are still looking for three or four more accomplices.

Also during the past week, police arrested an unnamed teenager who was riding a BMX-style bicycle on the 2200 block of Mt. Vernon Street. While Cullen says that youth was "not related or identified with the string of robberies," he was taken into custody when officers allegedly found a .38-caliber handgun tucked into the back of his pants.

In August, police received reports of at least three armed robberies involving assailants who rode up to Fairmount residents on sidewalks, brandished weapons and demanded money. In each reported case — victims told police of incidents on Fairmount Avenue and Mt. Vernon and Parrish streets but some may have gone unreported — the robberies occurred between 9 p.m. and 2 a.m. No shots were fired.

Police wouldn't release much information about the 15-year-old from the Francisville neighborhood because of his age but said he was picked up on a warrant on the 600 block of North Broad Street on Aug. 26. Cullen added that the youth was awaiting a hearing on robbery charges and related offenses. The case will remain open until all the suspects are apprehended.

"Proximity, methodology and a positive [witness] identification gave the Central Detectives a lead that this teenager was one of the [robbery suspects]," says Cullen, who added that police haven't gotten a report of an armed robbery in about three weeks. "We still have a large volume of our robbery deployment team in the neighborhood. … We removed a contraband firearm from the street and got a prime suspect, but I think we still have a lot more work to do."

Still, one of the victims — a 20-something female whose name is being withheld — welcomed the news of the robbery arrest.

"It was only a matter of time before somebody got hurt or killed," she said. "I'm just happy that they got one [suspect] off the streets."