Broad Ripple crime cluster includes T-shirt store robbed twice in one month
UPDATE: Police confirmed Cameron Williams, 48, was arrested in connection with multiple Broad Ripple robberies. Williams confessed to two robberies at The Shop and one robbery at Three Dog Bakery, according to detectives. Preliminary charges include robbery and kidnapping.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A Broad Ripple T-shirt store was robbed Saturday afternoon, the owner said, the second robbery reported at the business in two weeks.
Authorities arrested a suspect following the latest incident at the “The Shop,” located at 920 Broad Ripple Avenue, according to Broad Ripple Village Association (BRVA) leaders.
“Thanks to IMPD for taking swift action,” the neighborhood group said in a statement. “Luckily no one was harmed in any of these incidents.”
Indianapolis police were unable to confirm the arrest, a department spokesman told News 8, and declined to release details about the incident or its suspected connection to other area robberies in recent weeks.
At least three Broad Ripple businesses were robbed within five days at the beginning of the month, including the first incident at The Shop on December 5.
Three Dog Bakery, located at 844 Broad Ripple Avenue, was robbed the previous day by the same suspect, according to police.
Teeki Hut, located at 807 Broad Ripple Avenue, was robbed December 1 during business hours; authorities were unable to confirm a link to the other incidents.
The robberies at The Shop and Three Dog Bakery both occurred when a lone female employee was working, police confirmed.
Jordan Vickers, the general manager of The Shop, said she was “freaked out” and identified her sister as the employee at the register during the December 5 robbery.
“She told me that she greeted the man as he walked in,” Vickers told News 8. “He said, ‘Give me everything in the register’ [and] ended up just making her lay flat on the ground. I believe he said, ‘I have someone watching you so don’t get up.’”
The suspect fled with an undisclosed amount of cash and the employee’s cell phone, she added.
Investigators were unable to confirm if the same suspect was involved in the December 15 robbery at The Shop.
A police spokesman said Sunday morning the investigation remained “active and ongoing.”