Two men are wanted for a brazen armed robbery at a west side neighborhood market Friday evening. Surveillance cameras captured the suspects sauntering into Freddy’s Food Mart on West 38th Street around 7:45 p.m. Friday.
The two hoodie-wearing suspects entered the local food mart before one of them began pointing his handgun while trying to corral the customers and staff. The other suspect then leaned over the counter and began taking money from the till, the surveillance video shows.
“One of them had a gun pointed at my uncle and his wife,” said the store owner’s nephew. “Very bold. Before they walked in, they were dancing.”
The nephew did not want to be identified, fearing possible retribution.
The suspects stole an undisclosed amount of money but the nephew said it was not a large quantity of cash. When the suspects exited the store, one of the store patrons began to give chase.
“It happened in less than two minutes. They ran off. As they ran down the street, one of the customers chased after them. They shot back at the customer,” the store owner’s nephew said, adding that when the suspects fired at the customer there were several children nearby.
Friday’s robbery comes a little more than a week after another brazen armed robbery outside of a restaurant at West 10th Street and Thurman Avenue. Two men wearing black bandanas aimed a handgun and a semi-automatic rifle at the victim who was on his way home from work. In that case, the suspects fired two warning shots near the victim’s legs and head.
The victim, who didn't want to be identified, told News 5 he's angered by the crime and wants the suspects caught. He defended Tremont as being safe overall.
"This happens in the city. People still need to come to Tremont and enjoy everything that Tremont has to offer,” the victim said.
As far as the robbery at Freddy’s is concerned, the owner’s nephew said he doesn’t believe the two suspects were from the neighborhood. He said he has never seem them before.
“These could be a couple of young kids trying to get a couple of bucks, you know?” the owner’s nephew said. “We’ve got safety precautions. This just caught us off guard. It caught us really off guard.”
