EXCLUSIVE: Teen Victim Speaks Out After Rash of Robberies Hits South Philadelphia
By: Elizabeth Hur
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A teenager talks exclusively with Eyewitness News about his face to face encounter with a robber.
According to police, he is not the only one targeted along a busy roadway in South Philadelphia.
Police are issuing an alert after a rash of robberies. The bandit has struck at least five times and two of the victims spoke only to Eyewitness News.
"He said, 'Just letting you know this is a stick up'."
At just 14-years-old, he was the suspect's youngest victim and a 28-year-old woman was his first.
"Give him my bag and my phone or he was going to shoot me."
She asked that we don't show her face and we are not naming the 14-year-old but according to police, they are two of five people robbed in a seven hour crime spree on and near Broad Street in South Philadelphia.
"It's the main street of Philadelphia, I thought it was the safe way to go."
The first incident, according to the victim, happened around 10 p.m. Monday in the 1300 block of Broad Street.
"He was on his bike behind me and he said, 'Excuse me, can I ask you a question', and I just turned around and I saw him and kept walking."
But we're told, the suspect threatened to harm her and got away with her wallet. The suspect then targeted his next victim in the 1500 block of Tasker Street.
"He punched me in the face and then pulled out I'd like to say a type of Glock, it was silver."
From the teenager, the suspect got a pocket knife and a quarter but police say the suspect went onto rob three more people: The third victim reported being robbed in the 1500 block of South 15th Street. The fourth victim told police, he was robbed in the 1700 block of South Broad Street. The suspect's spree ended around 5 a.m. Tuesday morning in the 2000 block of South Broad Street.
"The weird thing was, he turned around and apologized. He said, 'I'm sorry ma'am. I have a son," and rode away," recalled the suspect's first victim.
A remorseful robber perhaps, but for his victims, the damage had already been done.
The woman said, "I mean if he has a kid, he should probably be more responsible and get a job and not be out robbing people."
The victims described the suspect as a black male in his 20s, 5'8"-6' tall with a muscular build and a beard.
Police say officers in the area have been put on alert and investigators from South Detectives are actively searching for the suspect.
