2 West Toledo stores robbed by knife-wielding suspects

7/24/2013
BLADE STAFF

Two West Toledo convenience stores were robbed early today by knife-wielding suspects, police said.

The first robbery was reported at 2:03 a.m. at Speedway, 1708 Tremainsville Rd.

A suspect was standing outside the store and, after several customers left -- except for a woman buying donuts -- he went into the shop, pointed a "long butcher knife" at a clerk, and demanded cash.

"Give me the money," the clerk recalled the man saying, according to a police report.

The woman buying donuts dropped her selection and left the store to call 911.

The clerk refused to give up money, reportedly prompting more threats from the suspect, who backed the female clerk against a window.

The employee screamed, prompting the attention of a customer pumping gas outside. The suspect took several dollars from the clerk's hand and tried to open the cash register.

The clerk pushed down the suspect's arms and said she was going to call the police. The suspect fled on foot, running toward Garden Park Road.

In a police report, the suspect is described as a thin, white man, about 5 feet, 10 inches tall. He was last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, a black ski mask, black pants, and black gloves.

The second robbery was reported at 4:46 a.m. at 7-Eleven, 3749 Upton Ave.

According to a police report, a man went into the store, held up a long knife, and demanded a clerk give him cash and a carton of Newport cigarettes.

The clerk complied, but as she was gathering cash and the cigarettes, the suspect reportedly said, "Hurry up or I'll cut you [expletive]. I'll stab you," the report states.

The suspect ran out of the front door.

The only provided suspect description in the second case is the suspect's last-known clothing: a red hooded sweatshirt, a black bandanna covering his face, black pants, and black Puma sneakers.

Anyone with information about either robbery is asked to call Toledo police Crime Stoppers at 419-255-1111.