A brazen armed robber hit five SuperAmerica and Walgreens stores in south Minneapolis in rapid fashion before dawn Tuesday, an unusual spree that police said is a high-priority case heading into the new year.
The holdups started at 4 a.m. at a SuperAmerica convenience store at 6000 Portland Av. S. and ended at another SuperAmerica at 4320 E. Lake St. at 6:30 a.m. Cash was taken from each store and prescription drugs were also taken from a 24-hour Walgreens at 2426 Hennepin Av. S.
Nobody was injured, but police are concerned about the potential for violence because the suspect had a gun, said police spokesman John Elder.
As the robberies were reported to police, the department's watch commander quickly noticed that the robber was moving east. Officers then called businesses in the suspect's possible path to warn them, Elder said.
Squads from other city precincts also mobilized, while other officers helped to canvass and take reports from the crime scenes, he said.
The suspect also robbed SuperAmerica stores at 2501 Hennepin Av. S. and 2200 Lyndale Av. S. There hasn't been any similar robbery pattern at the University of Minnesota, in St. Paul or elsewhere in the metro area, Elder said.
At each store, the suspect usually walked up to the cashier, brandished a black semiautomatic handgun and calmly made his demands, Elder said. He didn't scream any threats, and there was no indication he was under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
There would have been few customers in the stores at that time of day, and officers are trying to find witnesses, Elder said.
![Five armed robberies, including one at a Walgreens store at Hennepin Ave. and S. Freemont Ave., were committed in South Minneapolis between 4 and 5am on December 31. ] JIM GEHRZ • jgehrz@startribune.com / Minneapolis, MN / December 31, 2013 / 11:30 AM](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/X7U6EYTWIAR7FS6OAZH3FA5BFY.jpg?&w=1080)
