Police think same two men held up several Columbia-area businesses

A string of five armed robberies in six days in Richland and Lexington counties have law enforcement officials thinking the crimes are linked.

Three convenience stores, a general store and motel were robbed between Dec. 22 and Wednesday. In one robbery on Christmas Eve, the thiefs told the victim “Merry Christmas” as they left the store.

In four of the five holdups, two robbers were involved – armed black men of medium build wearing masks. In the other, a single gunman with the same description was involved.

Kevin Cornett, police chief in Springdale where the motel robbery occurred, said the two Lexington County robberies were almost certainly committed by the same two people; and, in all five “I think everything looks the same. There are a lot of similarities in all of them.”

“Some are related,” said Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott, stopping short of saying all were committed by the same suspects. “We’ve got similarities in some of them in both Richland and Lexington counties.”

Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said his investigators are huddling with the other agencies.

“Our detectives routinely talk to surrounding counties,” he said. “And they are reviewing the information.”

According to the Richland and Lexington sheriffs’ departments and Springdale police:

▪  On Thursday, Dec. 22 at about 6:30 p.m., a black male of medium build, wearing a camouflage jacket and hat over a blue sweatshirt and dark pants, entered the Food Mart at 4140 Broad River Road in Richland County and demanded money. He was unsuccessful and fled.

▪  At 9 p.m. the same day, two black men of slim and medium builds, wearing blue sweatshirts, dark pants and black masks, entered the Pitt Stop at 7460 Two Notch Road in Richland County, pointed handguns at the clerk and demanded money and stole multiple packs of cigarettes. The robbery was successful.

▪  On Saturday, Dec. 24 – Christmas Eve – two black men of medium build, wearing wearing black and gray hoodies and black masks, entered Dollar General at 1901 Bluff Road in Richland County, pointed handguns at the clerk and demanded money. The robbery was successful, and the robbers left saying “Merry Christmas.”

▪  On Wednesday at about 9 p.m., two black men of medium build, wearing sweatshirts, masks and gloves, entered the C Mart on Two Notch Road in Lexington County, struck the clerk, pointed a gun at her and demanded money. The clerk hit a “panic button” and the suspects fled without money.

▪  That same night at about 9:30, two black male men of medium build wearing hoodies entered the Super 8 motel at 650 Cherokee Lane in Springdale and demanded money. The robbery was successful and the suspects fled on foot.

Cornett said authorities are certain the Super 8 and C Mart robbers are the same, because in both surveillance videos one had the same gloves on – black gloves with white “skeleton” decals on the back.

Police believe the two immediately went to the motel after they struck out at the convenience store. But they had to work the motel twice, because on the first trip there were too many people checking in.

Cornett said the suspects are probably local because of the concentration of crimes.

“If they just got off the interstate we wouldn’t have a string like this,” he said. “They would be gone.”

Lott said it’s likely that the two suspects will keep committing robberies until they are caught.

“It’s cheap money, but it’s easy money and they get addicted to it,” he said. “We call it a low paying job with a very high risk, because you’re going to go to prison.”

Anyone with information about the robberies is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC, text CRIMES (274637) and mark the beginning of the message with “TIPSC” followed by the tip information, or log onto www.midlandscrimestoppers.com and click the red “Submit a tip” tab.

This story was originally published December 30, 2016 at 5:18 PM.