VIDEO: Pair suspected in string of at least 8 Little Rock holdups

2 men, all in black with faces hidden, sought in robberies that started Oct. 24

Detectives are working to identify two men suspected in a string of at least eight aggravated robberies across southwest Little Rock, a police spokesman said Wednesday.

Two tall, thin men described as being 18-20 years old have reportedly entered at least eight stores since late October and demanded money at gunpoint from store employees, sometimes putting a gun to the employees' heads, according to police reports and police spokesman Eric Barnes.

The men generally steal cash, according to police reports, and have taken more than $1,000. The exact amount of money stolen was not released because many of the more recently robbed establishments had not yet calculated their losses.

In many of the robberies, the two men wore all black, had cloths to cover their faces and wore gloves, according to witness statements and video surveillance. In nearly every robbery, at least one of the men pointed an automatic or semi-automatic handgun at a store employee. In one instance, the robber grabbed a clerk so tightly that he left marks on the man's skin, the reports said.

The men primarily robbed gas stations and convenience stores, reports show.

In video surveillance from one of the robberies, two slender men dart across the store, both appearing to realize they're being filmed as they stare almost directly into the camera.

Detectives believe the pair's first robbery occurred at 10:48 p.m. on Oct. 24. A clerk told investigators that two men walked into the Valero Corner Store at 10402 Mabelvale Pike with a gun, jumped over the counter and demanded all of the money in the cash register, a report said. The clerk said the men took more than $250, though an exact amount wasn't immediately reported.

More than a month later, on Nov. 29, two men walked into the Super Stop at 7300 S. University Ave. just after 8 p.m. and pointed a handgun at two customers while demanding money, a police report said. The two men left on foot with an unknown amount of money, the report said.

On Dec. 3, two men took an unknown amount of money from a Super Stop at 6325 Stagecoach Road after pointing a gun at the clerk, according to reports.

Eleven days later, a man took about $150 from a Quick Cash at 7715 Geyer Springs Road, according to reports. Detectives suspect he was one of the two robbers in the other holdups.

On Dec. 15, two men wearing all black demanded that a clerk at Murphy USA at 8800 Baseline Road give them all of the money in the register and the safe, a police report said. The clerk told them that she could not open the safe, and the men fled on foot with the cash from the register, the report said.

Two robbers matching the description of the two in the other cases stole more than $800 from the Quick C-Store at 12106 Sardis Road on Dec. 20, and an unknown amount of money from the Mobil Station at 7520 Geyer Springs Road three days later, the reports said.

The latest robbery linked to the two occurred Dec. 29, when clerks at Tom and Jean's Grocery at 13622 Sardis Road were held at gunpoint and forced to give the men money, according to police reports.

Barnes asked anyone with information in the cases to contact detectives at (501) 404-3027 or call the anonymous line at (501) 371-4636.

Metro on 01/10/2019

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