String of violent robberies in Fishtown, Kensington under investigation

PHILADELPHIA - Philadelphia police are looking to identify and locate a group of suspects they say were involved in at least five robberies over the course of an hour in Fishtown and Kensington earlier this week. 

All five of the incidents under investigation happened between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. Wednesday morning. 

In all of the incidents, police say the suspects either physically assaulted the victims or threatened them with a gun. 

In the first incident, police say a 28-year-old man was walking on the 1600 block of N. Frankford Avenue when he walked past his own car and his key fob activated the vehicle’s lights. That’s when police say five male suspects in ski masks began walking toward him.

The suspects beckoned the victim to ‘come here’ and the victim began to run, pushing past one of the suspects. Police say a second suspect then threatened to shoot the victim if he continued to run. The victim stopped, and one of the suspects went through his pockets, taking his key fob. The suspects then fled in the victim’s vehicle. 

20 minutes later, around 5:20 a.m. a 37-year-old man was walking on the unit block of East Columbia Street when he was approached by two males. 

Police say those males pointed a gun at the victim and demanded he ‘give over everything he had.’ The suspects took the man’s phone and were last seen running down Blair Street. 

A short time later, a 60-year-old man was approached by multiple suspects as he walked to his vehicle on the 1300 block of East Oxford Street. The suspects began punching the victim and took his phone, wallet, and keys from his pockets. 

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Around the same time, a 33-year-old man on the 1400 block of East Oxford Street was approached by four suspects who punched him and took his phone, watch, jacket, and gym bag. 

Police say the fifth incident occurred just before 5:50 a.m. on the 1300 block of East Columbia Avenue. A 56-year-old man was walking to the bus when he was approached by three males. The suspects punched the victim, before taking his wallet, according to police. 

At least one of the victim’s was taken to a local hospital to be treated for injuries sustained during the robberies. 

Police have released surveillance footage of the suspects and have asked anyone with information about them or the incidents to contact detectives.