Serial 7-Eleven armed robbery suspect charged in Royal Oak
A Hazel Park man is charged with two armed robberies at separate 7-Eleven stores in Ferndale, one in Royal Oak and is a suspect in similar robberies in two other nearby cities.
Rayshawn Sealy, 23, is jailed on two counts of armed robbery and is being held on a $200,000 cash bond set at his arraignment Wednesday before Ferndale 43rd District Court Magistrate J. Patrick Brennan.
Ferndale police Public Information Ofc. Jillian Mahlmeister said Thursday that Sealy is also a suspect in 7-Eleven robberies in Madison Heights and Warren.
“He said he was tight on money” during an interview with police, Mahlmeister said, adding that Sealy has no prior criminal history.
Sealy was arraigned Thursday in Royal Oak 44th District Court on a count of armed robbery before Magistrate Donald Chisholm, who set a $100,000 cash bond for the suspect.
Royal Oak police Lt. Richard Millard said Sealy is accused of robbing the 7-Eleven at 1121 N. Campbell about 1:30 a.m. Oct. 23.
“He threatened the clerk with a knife, got away with about $100 and rode away on a bike,” Millard said. “Ferndale did a good job catching this suspect.”
In a news release Wednesday, Mahlmeister said that Ferndale police tried to stop Sealy for a bicycle violation Tuesday after he was seen “casing” the 7-Eleven store at Nine Mile and Hilton roads in Ferndale.
Sealy was arrested after a brief foot chase and police said he matched the description of an armed robbery suspect wanted at two different 7-Eleven stores in Ferndale.
He is accused of robbing the 7-Eleven at Nine Mile and Pinecrest around 1:20 a.m. Oct. 20.
Police said the suspect went to the counter and pulled out a folding knife, demanding the clerk give him money from the cash register.
The clerk opened the register
and handed over about $300 in cash, police said, then fled from the store.
Sealy is also accused of robbing the 7-Eleven store at Nine Mile and Hilton roads about 6 a.m. on Nov.1.
During that robbery, the suspect had his hand in his left pocket and implied he had a weapon when he approached a clerk at the counter, police said.
“The clerk opened the register and handed over approximately $805 cash,” Mahlmeister said in the news release. “The suspect also stole the clerk’s cell
phone and store phone.”
Ferndale police follow-up investigations revealed that the suspect would “case” the area before each robbery and flee on a bike after robbing the stores, police said.
“During an interview (Sealy) said he had planned to come to Ferndale and rob the 7-Eleven at 9 Mile and Hilton again,” Mahlmeister said Thursday
Investigators worked with several surrounding (police) agencies and learned that the suspect committed a series of robberies.
Madison Heights police Lt. Koehler said Thursday that Sealy is a suspect in two armed robberies at the 7-Eleven store at 815 W. 11 Mile Road, east of I-75.
“He had a knife,” Koehler said. “The first robbery was Oct. 18 and he got about $250. In the second robbery Oct. 23, the clerk fled and (the suspect) didn’t get any money.”
Mahlmeister said Sealy is suspected of robbing another 7-Eleven store near Nine Mile and Ryan roads in Warren.