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Pittsfield Police: Eight Robberies In Six Weeks
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city is averaging more than one armed robbery per week for the last month and a half.
Police say there have been eight armed robberies since November 23, 2015, seven of which are still unsolved.
The stores robbed include Angelina's on West Housatonic Street, an Empire Pizza delivery driver on Parker Street, the Gulf Station on Wahconah Street, Zuke's Variety on West Street, the Getty on Elm Street, Greylock Federal Credit Union on Upper North Street, the Salvation Army on Dalton Avenue, and Dawes Avenue Variety.
"With the exception of one case (robbery of Zuke's store on 12/10/15, in which 30-year-old Ivy Rogers of Pittsfield was arrested and charged, these are all active investigations," Police Chief Michael Wynn wrote in a release issued on Friday.
The chief says the staffing levels and call volume "do not allow for increased patrols or presence at this time" but that beat officers "are making it a point in between calls to be visible and conduct patrols in and around businesses."
Wynn said units within the patrol division would typically execute specialized patrols and have been given additional tasks related to solving the open robbery cases. Other units — such as detectives and investigators — have picked up additional duties aimed to prevent more robberies as well as investigating the cases.
While there are some commonalities in the robberies, it appears that most are separate investigations, Wynn wrote.
"Beyond race or sex, none of the descriptions of any of the suspects in the seven open cases closely matches any other case. In other words, they appear to have been committed by seven separate sets of suspects," Wynn wrote.
"That being said, eyewitness information in these cases has not been particularly strong. It does now appear that one of the seven cases in Pittsfield does appear to be linked to a similar robbery that occurred on Jan. 7, 2016 in South Hadley."
Some of the details included that most were places of business — with only one being a delivery driver; three involved knives and four involved handguns; there are six male suspects and one female suspect (one woman already arrested in the Zuke's Variety case); three were white males, two were black males, two (one male, one female) were of unknown race; three of them occurred during the 5 p.m. hour, two during the 7 p.m. hour, one during the 11 p.m. hour — a total six happening during the evening shift — and one at 2 in the afternoon; in four cases the victims were alone, in three there were multiple people present; no victims were injured; and the locations do not appear to be in any geographical pattern.
In wake of the rash of robberies, the Police Department issued the following tips to businesses and individuals:
- Increase vigilance when nearing closing hours (when customer traffic is low).
- Increase awareness of persons/vehicles loitering in the area, and call the police if suspicious.
- Increase staff at closing and evening hours so that there is not one employee alone during these times.
- Install surveillance and security systems.
- Do not do anything to place yourself in harm. Comply with all demands.
- Immediately close your business, and lock your doors. Call 911 before calling anyone else.
- Be the best witness you can be. After calling 911, write down details of the suspect. If there is more than one victim, do not share details amongst yourselves first.
Anyone with information regarding these cases is encouraged to call the Detective Bureau at 448-9705.
