Santa Maria police suspect that eight crimes–a series of robberies and muggings–committed over the course of three non-consecutive nights were committed by the same people.
“It’s not confirmed, but we believe they are connected,” said Santa Maria Police Department Lt. James Ginter.
On Sept. 29, two stores were robbed; on Oct. 4, two more robberies and three muggings were committed; and on Oct. 6, there was an armed robbery at the El Campesino Market on Broadway.
According to police reports, masked bandits committed the Sept. 29 robberies at 9:53 p.m. and 10:08 p.m. A 7-Eleven on Pershing Street was robbed first, and El Milagro Liquor on the corner of Boone and School streets was hit second.
Five days later, another five robberies were committed over a 4-1/2 hour span. Two days later, masked bandits struck again.
Ginter said that three of those robberies were committed against people on the sidewalk, and the other two robberies were at convenience stores: the Benwiley Market and the 7-Eleven on the corner of Carmen and Broadway.
Employees at the liquor store on Boone told the Sun that they weren’t allowed to speak to the media, and the manager of the 7-Eleven on Broadway referred the Sun to corporate offices.
“It’s very unusual for robberies to happen this close together in time and location,” said Margaret Chabris, a spokeswoman for 7-Eleven.
Chabris said 7-Eleven stores usually don’t keep more than $30 to $50 in the register and added that 7-Eleven has a policy of dropping bills larger than $10 into a safe as a way to discourage robberies.
“They were following the policy really well,” she said of the victims of the Sept. 29 robbery, explaining that 7-Eleven doesn’t make public the amount of money taken in robberies in an attempt to keep others from targeting 7-Elevens.
Santa Maria police are asking members of the community to help by providing any information they can about the crimes. Call 928-3781 to report any tips, which can be anonymous, to the Police Department.
This article appears in Oct 9-16, 2014.