3 Aiken businesses robbed over weekend in connected incidents

Landon Stamper, Aiken Standard, S.C.
·3 min read

Apr. 28—Three Aiken businesses were robbed this past weekend, and the robberies were believed to be conducted by the same suspects.

Palm Beach Tan, 762 Silver Bluff Road; Subway, 804 E. Pine Log Road; and Dunkin' Donuts, 3526 Richland Ave. W.; were all robbed Saturday morning within a span of minutes.

The Aiken Department of Public Safety responded to a reported robbery at Palm Beach Tan at 9:29 a.m. Saturday. The officers were told by the associate on duty that two Black males had robbed her as she was working the front desk and left the premises, according to the incident report.

The associate told the officers the two men had taken $100 from the cash register, as well as her iPhone, before forcing her to stay in the tanning room as they left, according to the report. The phone was later recovered on Silver Bluff Road, about half a mile from the scene.

Palm Beach Tan's security camera footage showed two men entering at 9:18 a.m. and forcing the associate to open the cash register, according to the report. The footage shows the men exiting the building at 9:21 a.m.

One suspect is described as being between 35 and 50 years of age, weighing between 200-300 pounds and being 6-feet to 6-feet, 2-inches tall with a medium skin complexion, according to the report.

The other suspect is described as being between 40 and 50 years of age, weighing between 160 and 180 pounds and being between 5 feet, 8 inches, and 5 feet, 11 inches tall with a darker skin complexion, according to the report.

Within the hour, an officer responded to the Subway on East Pine Log Road for an armed robbery call. Upon arrival, the officer was given a description of the suspects, which matched the description from the tanning salon, according to the report.

The officer was told the suspects came into the restaurant, and one of them went behind the counter and asked the worker to open the register, according to the report said. The worker was also asked to open the safe, to which she did not have access. The worker was then told to go to the back of the restaurant while the suspects left, according to the report.

The worker said one suspect acted as if he had a firearm by reaching at his side towards his waistband, according to the report. Another worker said she never saw a gun, but the suspect's mannerisms implied he had one.

The report said that a review of video footage confirmed that the Subway suspects were the same suspects from the Palm Beach Tan robbery.

At 10:45 a.m., an officer responded to Dunkin' Donuts on Richland Avenue in reference to a follow-up to the other two robberies, according to the report. The officer was told that the suspects had entered the employees-only door at the back of the building at approximately 7:44 a.m.

The suspects entered the store's back room and manager's office before being confronted by a store employee, according to the report. When the employee confronted them, one suspect said, "We were just going to ask if we could have some boxes," according to the report, before they left.

Security footage from the restaurant shows one of the suspects taking something off a wire rack. A Dunkin' employee stated that her black purse, which normally sits on the rack, was missing and the purse matched the item the suspect picked up in the security footage.

The victim said the purse contained various identity documents and cash, according to the report.

She said none of her cards had been used since the theft, according to the report.

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