A group of armed men robbed a Hyattsville pawnbroker Tuesday night, the fourth violent heist of a Prince George’s County hock shop in just over a month.
“We know that we’re dealing with dangerous people,” Prince George’s County police spokeswoman Cpl. Diane Richardson said Wednesday.
She said police are exploring possible links between the robberies, in which a small group of armed men enter the pawnshops, force employees to the ground, and make off with money or jewelry. In some cases, victims were pistol-whipped.
The assailants numbered between two and four. In some instances, they wore masks. In every case, they were black.
“They basically just came in the door, screamed and hollered ‘This is for real, everybody get down,’ ” said Tammy Bowles, an employee of King Pawn in District Heights, which was robbed May 9.
Bowles told The Examiner that she watched the robbery through a surveillance camera. After she triggered an alarm, Bowles said, the men fled the store on Old Silver Hill Road. Two employees fired multiple rounds at them as they got away.
After learning of a pawnshop robbery earlier that month, Bowles said the store decided to keep guns “out on the front lines with the guys.”
In the most recent robbery, a Famous Pawnbrokers on Sargent Road in Hyattsville was hit by four men, two of whom were armed, Richardson said.
At about 7 p.m., Tuesday, the suspects approached a man and woman, forced the victims into the back seat of their own truck, robbed them, forced them out, drove the truck to the Famous Pawnbrokers and robbed the store, Richardson said.
The incident bears similarities to the robbery on May 23, in which two suspects hailed a cab, forced the driver into the back seat, and drove the cab to another Famous Pawnbrokers on New Hampshire Avenue in Takoma Park.
After taking jewelry from the shop, they re-entered the taxi, drove a short distance, and struck the driver several times before leaving.
At a glance
Four pawnshops have been robbed in Prince George’s County recently.
» Famous Pawnbrokers in Suitland, May 1
» King Pawn in District Heights, May 9
» Famous Pawnbrokers in Takoma Park, May 23
» Famous Pawnbrokers in Hyattsville, June 6
