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Police Investigate String Of Robberies Of Asian Business Owners

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia Police are hoping surveillance video will lead to the men responsible for a pattern of disturbing home invasions that began in May.

The victims are all Asian business owners who live above their shops. They were threatened with guns, tied up and robbed.

The 12 break-ins happened in the west, southwest and northwest parts of the city. The most recent robbery happened early Monday morning on the 5100 block of Haverford Avenue.

About 180 concerned business owners gathered in Chinatown Monday to hear from police and connect to resources, in a meeting organized by the Greater Philadelphia Chinese Restaurant Association.

Ling Lin, a Chinese restaurant owner herself, described a community on edge through translator Lisa Ni.

"Right now, all the restaurant owners, including myself, we're living in fear, a lot of fear and pressure," Lin said.

Three men broke into Ghi-Ming Chen's restaurant on June 29th. With Ni translating for him, Chen said they pointed guns at him and a friend and tied them both up.

"They took all of our belongings, all of our cash, they took everything," he said.

Lt. John Walker of the Philadelphia Police Department said all but one of the break-ins happened between 4 and 6 a.m. Walker said as many as four men are involved, including one with a very distinctive neck tattoo that possibly spells "Felicia." Police identified the getaway cars as a black Dodge and silver Nissan minivan.

"The psychological trauma is huge, so we're working with the FBI to get victim services people out here working with the community," Walker said. "We're trying to do our best to make them our eyes and ears and get officers in an area to hopefully make an arrest."

Anyone with information about these crimes is asked to call Southwest detectives. You can also submit an anonymous tip at Phillypolice.com

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