[13 MAR 01] CRIMES, FIRES & ACCIDENTS
Robber's Violent Streak Continues

Shopkeepers in Coventry and north Warwickshire are being warned to be on their guard following a spate of 13 attacks on female cashiers that could have been carried out by the same man.

Detectives believe the similar description from the assistants and cashier who have been attacked means it is likely that the same person is responsible.

The robberies have all taken place at shops and petrol stations. There have been five in Nuneaton, three in Bedworth, three in Coventry and one in Arley and Ryton-on-Dunsmore.

On each occasion the man has entered the store and gone to the till to buy an item – soft drinks, cigarette papers, sweets or bottles of beer.

When the cashier – in every instance a female - opens the till, he has pushed her away and grabbed cash from the till.

He is 6ft, white, slim with very short hair that has been described a dark brown or black, and could be a “number one” crew cut.

He sometimes wears a blue baseball cap, and on several occasions was wearing a dark, possibly black, jacket and tracksuit bottoms with two white stripes down the side, but not Adidas.

He has distinctive black stubble but may sometimes be clean-shaven.

He sometimes works with accomplices and one is described a white, with ginger hair and a goatee beard.

The most recent incidents came on Saturday, within 15 minutes of each, when an attacker struck at the Save service station in Heath End Road in Nuneaton at 9pm, and then at the Spa store in Trafford Drive.

DS Pete Hill, of Nuneaton CID, said:

“We want to stop this man before he robs again. We believe he is targeting shops with female cashiers and on each occasion he has used force to access money in the till.

“We hope someone will recognise his description and provide us with the information we need to arrest this man.

“We are also asking shop staff to be vigilant – to make regular till drops and to ring us if they are at all suspicious.”

SEE [07 MAR 01] THREE SHOPS HIT BY ROBBER
SEE [01 MAR 01] VIOLENT ROBBERY SPREE HITS CITY