Police are investigating five robberies from the past six weeks in Willoughby.
Police believe a thief dressed in a dark navy blue sweatsuit with a black mask, who robbed an area speedway just last week, may be connected with other thefts in Lake County. But they're still not sure about the other robberies in nearby apartment complexes.
Officials say it is very uncommon for the area to have this many instances in such a short amount of time.
“It’s unique, but I hope it’s not a trend that’s happening," said Detective Lieutenant James Schultz of the Willoughby Police Department.
Surveillance video from the Speedway on Mentor Avenue shows the alleged masked thief walking into the gas station shop and demanding the sales clerk to give him cash.
“The robber was just demanding cash; we don’t know what his end game was afterwards,” said Lt. Schultz.
And that happened simultaneously with a series of robberies at two nearby apartment complexes.
Pam Ross lives in one of those apartments, the Parkway Apartment. She says the robberies have everyone shook up.
“Literally this is an apartment complex under siege. Everybody’s lost their peace of mind, everybody’s losing sleep.”
Cash, cell phones, computers and other valuables were all stolen from various apartments. Officers believe the thefts are narcotics driven.
“A vast majority of thefts, whether it’s shoplifting, robberies, burglaries, breaking and entering, a lot of those are drug related,” said Lt. Schultz.
Ross says she and other residents have a good idea who the suspect could be and they've given that name to authorities.
“We had a good description and we ended up possibly finding this person on Facebook.”
Her information may be helpful but Lt. Schultz tells newsnet5.com not everyone is coming forward with all they know.
“Recently, we’ve gone up to Parkway, and we’ve knocked on every door up there,” Lt. Schultz said. "And there’s been a lack of information provided and I think that’s based on the fact that a lot of these people don’t want us knowing everything that happened.”
The residents at the Parkway Apartment complex are planning to hold meetings at the start of April in effort to find ways to keep their neighborhood safe.
