Police in Helena-West Helena are investigating multiple incidents in which buildings were robbed by costumed men, a news release said.
About 12:30 p.m. Monday, officers said, a black man wearing a white mask from the Scream movies entered the post office on Sebastian Street and jumped over the counter.
Officers said employees immediately ran to the back and locked themselves in. The man left without taking anything, but three minutes later the same man walked into Southern Bancorp, located on Plaza Avenue, armed with a handgun, authorities said.
He took an undetermined amount of cash from the bank tellers and was last seen driving a white sedan, a news release said.
On Saturday, officers said a man in a gorilla mask and gloves resembling gorilla hands walked into Jordan's Tobacco Super Center in Helena-West Helena and demanded money. Employees said the costumed robber kept one hand in his pocket and that they thought he had a gun.
Officers said the clerks gave the man the money out of the store's safe and that they got on the ground when they were ordered to do so. The robber ran out of the store, and one of the clerks followed him and observed him getting into an older, white Chevrolet Malibu, police said.
Both incidents are under investigation.
State Desk on 09/17/2019