Santa Rosa Sheriff's officials have reported three armed robberies in Santa Rosa County since early Friday morning. Two involved Circle K Stores in Milton and Bagdad – the third was in Navarre.
The two convenience store robberies have many similarities, as reported by Sheriff's officials. Both happened in the early morning hours; both have two black male robbers with guns; in both, the robbers fled on foot and possibility to a vehicle. Both robberies occurred at Circle K Stores located close to the Interstate. In both, one of the robbers was described wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt.
The most recent happened on June 18 (Tuesday) just after midnight at the Circle K, 3804 Garcon Pt. Rd. Sheriff's reports indicate two black men robbed the store at gunpoint, getting away with over $14,000 in lottery tickets, a large amount of cigarettes, and an unnamed amount of cash. The men entered the store through the back door and ordered the employee into the office to open the safe. When he was unable to do so, the suspects put the safe in a garbage cart and took it with him, according to a Sheriff's spokesman. The robbers also took the cash in the register. Both men escaped from the store on foot, possibly to a vehicle.
In a similar incident, the Avalon Blvd. Circle K located near Interstate 10 was robbed early Friday morning just before 2 a.m. The suspects are described as two black males; one is 5’09", approximately 180 lbs., and having a medium build. He was wearing a red "skull cap", black pants, and a dark shirt. This suspect pulled a black revolver half way out of his left pocket and showed it to an employee. The suspect told the employee to go into the office and give him money. The second suspect was described as being approximately 5'8 to 5’9 with a medium build. He was wearing a grey "hoodie" and a bandana over his face.
In this robbery, the suspects were able to obtain cash from the front register area. Prior to leaving the scene, the suspects also took several cartons of cigarettes.
In Navarre on Saturday morning, around 11:30 a.m., a tall, thin black male with a black handgun walked into the Navarre Turf, located at 9970 Navarre Parkway, and demanded cash from the register. The money was placed on the counter when the suspect noticed the safe. He left the scene on foot to a possible vehicle, with the money from the drawer and the safe.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Santa Rosa Sheriff's Department at 983-1100.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Two Circle K Stores robbed at gunpoint in four days