Crime & Safety

Cops Searching for Suspects in Downtown Armed Robbery

Two men robbed two juveniles at gunpoint Monday night, according to police.

Phoenixville Police are searching for two men they say robbed a pair of teens at gunpoint in a downtown alley on Oct. 3.

Just after 8 p.m. on Monday night, two 15-year-old juveniles approached an officer in downtown Phoenixville saying they’d been held up. The robbers, described by the victims as being in their 20s, stole the bag of one of the 15-year-old boys. The robbery happened a block from where a 22-year-old man was recently murdered, allegedly in an armed robbery that turned deadly.

The two 15-year-old victims were walking up Bank Street, a cobblestone alley in the 200 block of Bridge Street, and when they were approaching Prospect Street, two men jumped out and one of the robbers held up a black pistol and asked the boys to hand over their belongings, according to Police Chief William Mossman.

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The men took a bag, which police say contained personal belongings, from one of the boys before fleeing north on Bank Street toward Bridge Street.

Following the robbery, the victims continued up Bank Street and turned on Prospect Street. An officer was in a car at the corner of Prospect and Main streets, and the victims flagged the officer down and told him about the robbery. Mossman said if it was just a few seconds later, the robbery may not have happened because the officer may have had a view of the alley.

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“The only people that witnessed it were the two victims,” Mossman said.

During the course of the early investigation, police found a man matching the description of one of the robbers on Bridge Street. Mossman said the man was wearing a sweatshirt similar or identical to one that one of the robbers had on at the time of the hold up.

One of the victims said that man could have been involved in the robbery, but after questioning, the man was released. The man didn’t have a weapon on him, and he didn’t have the stolen belongings, Mossman said. He was also standing very close to where the robbery occurred, and the pants he was wearing didn’t match the description given by the victim.

“We think that it was a misidentification,” Mossman said. “We didn’t feel confident, and he had a really good, perfect alibi story.”

Mossman said there are a few leads in the case and police are working hard to find the robbers. He said he is confident police will catch the two men who were responsible.

The men are described as follows:

  • Gunman: black male in his 20s, approximately 5-feet 9 inches tall, wearing a blue Aéropostale hoodie and dark-colored pants
  • Black male in his early 20s wearing a dark-colored, possibly brown hoodie and white sneakers, shorter than 5-feet 9 inches tall

"At this point, we don't have a solid suspect," Mossman said.

Phoenixville Police can be reached at 610-933-1180.


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