OCEAN PINES – Area law
enforcement agencies this week are asking for help in identifying two masked
gunmen who held up a pair of convenience stores early Wednesday morning.
Shortly after 1 a.m. on Wednesday,
two masked men, one of whom was brandishing an unknown type of semi-automatic
handgun, entered the Shore Stop on Route 589 near Ocean Pines and demanded
money from the clerk. The suspects fled the store with an undisclosed amount of
cash.
The first suspect is
described as a black male in his late teens or early 20s, roughly 5’7” to 5’9”
tall with a medium build, wearing a black shirt, dark blue jeans, brown boots
and a black face mask at the time of the robbery. The second suspect is
described as a black male, about the same height with a smaller build, wearing
a black shirt, light blue jeans and a black face mask at the time of the
incident.
At about 1:35 a.m., two
masked men entered the Shore Stop convenience store in nearby Pittsville in
Wicomico County and robbed the clerk at gunpoint with circumstances and
descriptions similar to the convenience store robbery in Ocean Pines about half
an hour earlier. In the Pittsville robbery, the two suspects entered the store
wearing dark colored clothes and dark ski masks and demanded money from the
store clerk.
One of the suspects
produced a dark semi-automatic handgun and removed an undetermined amount of
cash from the register, while the second suspect stood watch at the store
entrance. The suspects were described as black males wearing dark colored
clothing and masks.
Because of the
similarity of the circumstances, the descriptions of the suspects and the time
frame of the incidents, allied law enforcement agencies in both counties
believe the two armed robberies are related.
”If I was a betting man, I’d put money on it,” said Worcester County Bureau of
Investigation (WCBI) Sgt. Harvey Brent. “Everything points to these two
incidents being related.”
Brent said yesterday the
suspects in the Ocean Pines robbery remained at large with little or no new
information about the suspects.
“We’re working small
leads,” he said. “We’re looking at the surveillance videos and we’re taking a
close look at the still pictures captured from the videos, but there is little else
to go on thus far.”
WCBI detectives and
their counterparts in Wicomico are relying on the public to help identify the
suspects or provide any additional information. Anyone with information is
urged to call WCBI at 410-352-3476.