Suspect wears gas mask to rob store, inn
Robber was armed with pistol, stole car
Texarkana, Texas, Police are investigating two armed robberies committed by a suspect wearing a gas mask.
The most recent robbery happened shortly after 10 a.m. Thursday at the Cash Store on Walton Drive. The other robbery happened Wednesday morning at Residence Inn on St. Michael Drive. No one was injured in either robbery.
“It is believed to be the same person,” said Shawn Vaughn, spokesman for the TTPD.
Officers were dispatched to the report of a robbery at the business at 10:10 a.m. Thursday, The employee reported that a man wearing a gas mask and a black hoodie entered the store. While pointing a pistol at the employee, he demanded the money from the cash register. He then also told the employee to give him the keys to her vehicle parked in the parking lot.
The suspect left in the victim’s silver 2005 Toyota Matrix and was last seen driving north on Walton Drive. The vehicle had Arkansas license plate 853-TOT and a vanity plate on the front that read “Cam Photography”.
Officers were dispatched early Wednesday to the report of a robbery at the Residence Inn at 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, Vaughn said. The front desk clerk told officers that a man entered the lobby area armed with a pistol and wearing what appeared to be a gas mask.
The man ordered the clerk to give him the money from the register. He then made him show him where the safe was located inside the office. After the suspect shot at the safe three times in an unsuccessful attempt to open it, he then fled in an unknown direction. At the time of the robbery, the suspect was wearing a black hoodie and black shorts. No one was injured. Anyone with information about either robbery is asked to contact the Texarkana, Texas, Police Department at 903-798-3116 or Texarkana CrimeStoppers at 903-793STOP.