Armed carjacking at Target
On Dec. 20 at around 8:40 p.m., a husband and wife were leaving Target and walking back to their car, which they parked on the side of the building. They were approached by two men, both black males, one wearing a brown jacket and the other a wool hat.
The first suspect put a gun to the husband's face and said "Give me your wallet and your keys." He did so. The second suspect put the gun to the wife's face, pushed her to the ground, sat on her and demanded her purse. She wasn't carrying one, but gave the suspect her phone. The suspects then got into the couple's car, a black 2004 Ford Explorer SUV with the tag number AT 1086, and left through the back entrance towards Briarcliff Road.
The couple went into Target and called police. The store's loss prevention officer had video footage of the incident available. The footage showed the two suspects getting out of a silver Pontiac Grand Prix in front of Target and following the couple to their car. The Grand Prix has a moon roof, rear spoiler and a broken headlight on the passenger side.
Briarcliff Pharmacy burglary
At about 6:15 a.m. on Dec. 20, an officer responded to an alarm call at Briarcliff Pharmacy. They met the owner, who said he'd gotten the call too and was told that the rear door had opened and there had been movement. He found the rear door open and the police officer checked inside to see if anyone was there. No one was.
However, the officer and the pharmacy owner noticed that two baskets full of prescription medications were missing.
Merry Lane auto break-in
A car parked on the 1200 block of Merry Lane was broken into between 2 and 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 20. The owner said that an unknown suspect broke the front driver's side window of his Ford F250 and took $20 in change from the ashtray. The car had been parked in front of the owner's neighbors' house.
This is another in a series of car break-ins in the Merry Hills area.
Shoe Carnival theft
A sales associate at Shoe Carnival in Briarcliff Shopping Center saw a police officer in the parking lot there on Dec. 24 and told them of something that happened to her the previous day.
Her purse was stolen from the break room inside Shoe Carnival and she was unaware of that for about two hours before she found it in the restroom for customer use. Items were taken from her purse, including an expired driver's license, a new temporary driver's license and a Walmart bank card. She canceled the card and said she didn't know who took her purse until she and a manager reviewed the video on Dec. 24.
She described the suspect as a young black male, 15 to 18 years old, with a slim build and a short afro. The suspect came to the store again on Dec. 24 about 10 minutes before noticing the police car in the parking lot. At that time, he left with an older black female (possibly his mother) in a white four-door sedan that could be a Chrysler Sebring.
Click here for more on other area crimes that happened around Christmas.