Thief grabs $900 in smokes at new Media Wawa

MEDIA » A cigarette bandit struck the newly opened Wawa early Sunday, making off with more than $900 worth of Newport 100s, police said Monday.

There was no weapon involved and there were no reported injuries, Police Chief Martin Wusinch said, adding investigators had good leads on a suspect and expected to make an arrest.

It was about 5 a.m. Sunday when a lone male suspect entered the store at 435 E. Baltimore Ave.

“He encountered a clerk and asked for cigarettes,” and then mentioned something about not having his wallet, Wusinich said.

Next thing, according to police, the suspect walked behind the counter. When an employee asked him what he was doing, the suspect reportedly responded, “I’m stealing.”

As the suspect was fleeing the store - with 12 cartons of Newport 100s valued about $950 - a police officer from Nether Providence was entering the store. When the officer was informed what had just happened, he radioed a description of the suspect and the blue minivan he was seen driving.

A Swarthmore police officer spotted a vehicle matching the description on Swarthmore Avenue and began following it, according to Wusinich. The vehicle turned onto Crest Lane where the driver bailed. A search of the area by police, including a K-9, came up empty.

The 12 cartons of cigarettes were recovered from the van, Wusinich said.

The suspect is described as a black male, about 5-feet 6-inches tall, wearing a black T-shirt, gray pants and a green reflector safety vest.

The Media Wawa opened to great acclaim on Friday.