Armed Robbery Likely Related to a Dozen More

A man who robbed a Wauwatosa convenience store clerk at gunpoint Saturday night remained at large, but he was not quite a stranger to area police.

Based on his description and methods, he's considered a suspect in at least 12 armed robberies, including another in Wauwatosa a month ago.

According to police:

At 9:17 p.m. Saturday, police were called to the at 11216 Blue Mound Rd. on a report of an armed robbery. A clerk told police that a masked man had entered the store, pointed a long-barreled silver revolver at her and demanded all the money in one of the cash registers.

She gave it to him and he ran out of the store. She said she did not see any car, and told officers the robber had been wearing gloves.

Milwaukee police also responded because the description of the robber’s mask, clothing and gun matched that of a man who had robbed a liquor store at West Oklahoma Avenue and South 91st Street only about 15 minutes earlier.

In that robbery, a black Chevy pickup truck was reported as the possible getaway vehicle.

The clerk said that from the little exposed skin she could see, she thought the suspect was African-American, and he stood about 5 feet, 11 inches to 6 feet tall with a thin build.

Police noted that her description of his clothing did not match what was seen on video, which showed him wearing a hooded jacket with the hood up.

The same description and modus operandi also matched about a dozen other recent robberies in the area, including another in Wauwatosa at a tobacco store on Aug. 22, reports said.

Lookalike crimes

In that incident, a Waukesha woman was just closing up shop a few minutes before 9 p.m. at , 11712 W. North Ave., when a  man wearing a black ski mask walked in, pointed a gun at her and said, “Give me all the money.”

She told police she went to the register and handed over the cash, and the suspect left quickly on foot through the parking lot and out of sight. She locked the doors and called police.

The store clerk could not access the video surveillance system or contact her manager. She gave a substantially similar description as had the Open Pantry clerk and also said the robber had been wearing plastic gloves, so detectives found no evidence to process in the store.

A neighbor reported hearing and seeing what he thought was the getaway car, which he described as a late ‘90s maroon Chevy Caprice. A detective found an empty cigarette box that appeared to have been freshly discarded where the neighbor had seen the car.