Posted
by Lauren Gores
on Thu Mar 11, 2010
Last updated
Mar 19, 2010
Columbia police are investigating a string of armed robberies after another business was hit last night.
The latest robbery happened at Bocomo Bay, a smoke shop located on Wilkes Blvd. at 11:00 p.m. Wednesday. The incident marks the third armed robbery in three days.
Police, however, are not changing their patrol plans because of the recent robbery spike. Though they note the buy QuarkXPress 8string is "a little unusual," they do not believe additional patrols are necessary.
"We've got a spike here, but we'll get to the bottom of it and figure out what's going on," said Detective Jeff Westbrook of the Columbia Police Department.
The recent spike is targeting smoke shops and liquor stores. Rangeline Liquors was hit on Monday, followed by the Dreams Smoke Shop on Tuesday, and Bocomo Bay on Wednesday. Police tell ABC 17 News it is not uncommon for these businesses to get hit.
"Certainly those are types of businesses that can be frequently targeted, depending on the location," said Westbrook. "Many times a location makes it easy for a person to rob that place and get away from the scene quickly."
That was the case at Bocomo Bay—where the suspect got in and got out in just more than a minute. It is prompting the store's owner to put in new cameras outside. As for other Columbia liquor stores—ABC 17 News stopped by a number of them today. Some managers said they are alarmed and stepping up security, while others said they are sticking to their routine.
Police will not rule out this might be one suspect sweeping the area, but are not sure that's the case. Some of the suspect descriptions do match—In all three cases, the download Microsoft Works 9suspect was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and displayed a silver handgun. In surveillance video obtained by ABC 17 from the owner of Bocomo Bay, the suspect is seen wearing a mask and purple gloves.
Police said they will also look into suspects who committed armed robberies in the past, in case they may be hitting the area again.
