KALAMAZOO/PORTAGE (WKZO AM/FM) — The suspect who botched two robberies in Kalamazoo and Portage on Tuesday has been busy. He has been connected now to a string of three armed robberies in Logansport and Peru Indiana last Saturday and Auburn, Indiana early yesterday morning at a Speedway gas station.
They have also provided a photo and it appears the man has not changed his clothes since Tuesday.
In all those cases, he brandished a handgun and demanded cash. There have been no injuries so far. They believe he is driving a silver vehicle.
ORIGNINAL STORY
A dramatic surveillance video shows a brave and clever clerk at the Campus Party Store scooping away the handgun of a robber who set the handgun down while grabbing as the clerk practically threw cash at him.
It happened at the liquor outlet on Michigan Avenue after 11:00 Tuesday night. As a flash of panic was visible in the robber’s eyes, he immediately headed for the door, dropping most of the money as he fled.
It was not his first blunder of the night. The same robber was captured on surveillance photos outside the store with his mask off.
Two hours earlier in Portage at a liquor store at Shaver and Oakland, he pointed a gun at the clerk who fled, but left the cash register closed. Unable to open it, the robber fled empty handed.
Despite all his bungling, the thief has so far evaded capture but it may only be a matter of time.
Public Safety is still looking for the much more polished robbers who held up the Sunny Mart Party Store last weekend.
Detective Shannon Bagley says they were all armed and appeared to know what they were doing, each of the three knowing exactly what their assignments were, carrying them out quickly.
They are checking with other departments to see if they have reports of similar hold-ups because it looked like the crew had done this before.
