CHARLOTTE — Police are searching for a thief accused of targeting a south Charlotte Ross store twice in one night and assaulting an employee.
A police report uncovered by Channel 9 shows the crimes happened at the Ross department store on South Boulevard near Tyvola Road on Monday night. The suspect robbed the store a second time, just three hours after the initial robbery.
Habibah Ahmed, who is also a mother, shops at the store often and now has her had on a swivel after learning about the robberies.
“It’s scary; it’s really scary,” Ahmed said. “I’m here with my niece and my daughter, and to know that something like that happened in broad daylight is crazy.”
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According to police, someone went into the store around 6:30 p.m. and took off with items in a suitcase without paying. Three hours later, that same person returned and took more merchandise from the store. During one of the incidents, a 61-year-old female who works at the store was assaulted and was left with scratches and bruises.
The suspect stole the worker’s lanyard, store keys, and price gun. They used the price tag as a weapon, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
“It’s crazy, I mean, [it’s] absolutely crazy you have people who are out here trying to make a living,” Amhed said. “And you have other people who are robbing them of that. It’s scary. "
The bizarre details of the crime are teaching Amhed to be very observant moving forward.
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“I think you have to definitely be very observant, that’s something I am since I have a younger child,” she said.
Channel 9 reached out to Ross and is waiting to hear back.
Just a half a mile away from the Ross, police responded to a shooting on Wednesday morning at another business where a person suffered life-threatening injuries. Officers quickly made an arrest.
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