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MOLLY MOORHEADWithin 24 hours, a liquor store and a beauty products supplier were robbed, but the crimes seem unrelated, police say.
ZEPHYRHILLS - Armed robbers have struck two businesses within 24 hours, police said Wednesday.
Zephyrhills police Capt. Randy Belasic said the incidents do not appear to be related. The first occurred Tuesday afternoon at Robby's Liquors, 5046 Gall Blvd. Another call came at 9:25 a.m. Wednesday from Sally Beauty Supply, 7725 Gall Blvd.
No one was injured in either incident, and no arrests have been made.
Police gave the following account:
Shortly before 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, two men entered Robby's Liquors, south of downtown. Both men were black. One of the men, described as about 18 years old, 5 feet 8 inches tall and 140 pounds and wearing his hair in cornrows, asked to use the restroom. The clerk told him it was not available. The second man, about 6 feet tall, 185 pounds and 19 years old and wearing an orange shirt, tried to buy a cigar and then asked to buy alcohol.
When the clerk asked for his ID, Belasic said, the man pulled out a handgun. While the other suspect stood watching, the man took an undisclosed amount of cash from the register. The two fled with the money and boxes of cigars, Belasic said.
A witness in the parking lot yelled at the men, who dropped the cigar boxes and ran around the east side of the building. The robbers were seen driving north on Seventh Street in a white pickup truck, possibly a Ford. Police recovered the cigar boxes, along with a surveillance videotape from inside the store.
On Wednesday morning, Belasic said, a slender white man, 20 to 25 years old with short brown hair, facial hair and a pierced right eyebrow, walked into the beauty supply store in front of the Wal-Mart Supercenter.
The man waited for a customer to leave, then raised his shirt to the clerk to reveal a black semiautomatic handgun tucked into the waistband of his jeans, Belasic said.
He had the woman empty the register, including coins. He also tried to rob the woman of her purse, but she didn't have it on her.
He shoved the money into his front pants pocket and ran out the door. He was seen running along the north side of the building, Belasic said.
Belasic said the suspect was wearing a dark blue T-shirt, blue jeans and a dark blue visor.
Anyone with information about either robbery should call the Zephyrhills Police Department at (813) 780-0050.