©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

Holdup marks series of crimes
by JENNIFER KATZ

The man walking towards her lifted his shirt to reveal a large black gun and demanded that she turn over her ring, her watch and her purse, yelling at her to hurry up.

“He showed me the gun, he said, ‘I’m serious’ and yelled at me, ‘Give me your f-ing ring,’ ” Chestnut Hill resident Lucia St. George said, describing what happened to her as she walked home from shopping on the Avenue at about 3 p.m. June 12.

The holdup was the latest in a series of robberies in the area in the last three weeks, three of them at the point of a gun.

St. George said she was walking on Chestnut Hill Avenue between Seminole and Navajo Streets when an African-American man in his early 20s and standing about 5-foot10 robbed her, then fled.

“He kept on walking [after the robbery] and I noticed a beat-up, gray four-door sedan that headed toward the dead end after Navajo,” St. George said. “I didn’t see the man get in the car, but the car pulled up there, stopped and then drove away.”

St. George returned to her house and called police. “The police were really helpful,” she said. “They came right away and escorted me to the detectives office to give my statement.”

St. George’s tale is the latest in a series of handgun-related crimes in recent weeks, according to police reports. A man was carjacked in the 8100 block of Germantown Avenue about 9:15 p.m on June 8. As the man got into his car, two men approached him. One pointed a gun at him and demanded the car. The victim told police that the men emerged from a nearby parked car. Details about the make and model of both vehicles involved, as well as descriptions of the victim and perpetrators, were not available at press time. Capt. Winton Singletary of the 14th Police District said the Northwest Detective Division was working on both cases and that there were no suspects.

It was the second carjacking on the Hill in less than two weeks. An 80-year-old man was badly beaten and his car stolen in mid-afternoon May 26 in the 100 block of West Abington Avenue.

On June 2, two women in their 30s were walking in the 6700 block of Emlen Street, in Mount Airy, when a man approached, pointed a gun at them and demanded their purses. One victim was struck in the face with the gun. She was taken to Chestnut Hill Hospital and treated for a broken nose and bruises, police said. Singletary said he was unsure whether the crimes were linked.

“It is unusual to have this many gun-related crimes in Chestnut Hill, yes, but it is not clear if there is a pattern here or not,” he said. Singletary planned to meet with detectives later this week.

Contact staff writer Jennifer Katz at 215-248-8804 or jenn@chestnuthilllocal.com.