The 7-Eleven convenient store at 2617 P St. NW was robbed 5:13 a.m., Jan. 7. and again at 2:20 a.m. on Jan. 9, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.
The robber on Jan. 7 wielded a handgun and was seen on surveillance tape wearing a dark jacket with white stripes around the waist and sleeves, light blue jeans, white gloves and black shoes with white details. His face was mostly covered by a hood and a face mask. Police say the suspect was a black male weighing between one hundred and one hundred twenty pounds and between 5’2″ and 5’5″ in height.
A 7-Eleven employee said that the robber got away with about $40 and some packs of cigarettes.
Then, according to police, four black males robbed the store in the wee hours of Jan. 9. A surveillance photo from the convenient store shows one wearing a dark bomber hat lined with a light fur lining, a leather jacket and white gloves. Another man is wearing an orange and blue jacket with face covered with a bandana and sunglasses and the third wears a dark jacket and covers his face with a black hat and a red bandana. Police say the robbery occurred at 2:23 a.m.
The store’s owner, Girma Hailu posted to a neighborhood safety message board that he is “very stressed out” by the incidents and that the second robbery was worse than the first, though nobody was harmed in either incident. He also said that on both occasions the robbers used “27th st as cover,” taking advantage of the dark street and the store’s window on that street, which is largely covered.
The MPD is urging anyone with information about either robberies to contact the department with details.
D.C. police also advise area residents to take the following precautions in day-to-day activity: always be aware of your surrounding; do not be distracted by your cell phone, music, reading, etc.; avoid traveling alone, especially at night; do not openly display electronics; use ATMs during the day in well-populated areas.
Anyone with information on the Jan. 7 or Jan. 9 robbery should inform the 2nd District headquarters — 202-715-7300.