BY MARIE McCAIN and TANYA BRICKING
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COLERAIN TOWNSHIP -- Another store reported a robbery Monday in which clerks were pistol-whipped, bringing the total of similarrobberies in the area to 27 since March. Cincinnati police have formed a task force with officers in Hamilton and Butler counties to solve a series of robberies that have been increasingly violent.
Several fast-food clerks have been pistol-whipped.
The latest robbery was shortly after 11 p.m. Monday at LaRosa's Restaurant, 8412 Colerain Ave. Two employees suffered minor injuries when three masked men entered the restaurant to rob it, police said. The characteristics of that robbery match reports of other cases in which robbers approach a store as it opens or closes and demand money from store managers.
Suspects in most of the cases have been described as black men in their 20s who are 5-foot-8 to 5-foot-10 and about 160 pounds. In most cases, they wear dark clothing, masks and gloves. Police suspect up to six people are working as a group.
In Monday's robbery, three men wearing stocking masks ordered LaRosa's employees to lie down and forced the manager to open the safe, removing more than $300, police records say.
One robber carried a gun and another a tire iron, police said, adding that the trio immediately went behind the counter and overpowered the employees and forced them to open the safe. Authorities say the suspect with the handgun pistol-whipped two employees, who were treated at an area hospital for minor injuries and released. The suspects escaped with the cash, running out the rear of the restaurant.
No arrests have been made, and the incident is still under investigation, Hamilton County Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Barnett said Tuesday.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 352-3040 or Cincinnati Police Detective Richard Wullenweber at 357-7531. Tips to Crime Stoppers remain anonymous, and callers can earn rewards for information that leads to arrests.
