Suspect nabbed in store robbery

Police arrested a man suspected of robbing a Mayfair Wawa food market on Saturday.
Northeast Detectives identified the man as Stephen Lewis, 40, of the 4000 block of Chippendale Ave., just a few blocks from the store.
According to police, Lewis entered the store at 7:35 p.m. He walked up to a cashier, pulled a large handgun out of a backpack and demanded money from the register.
"Make it fast," the man told the cashier.
The employee placed bills and coins totaling about $342 into a plastic Wawa bag, and Lewis allegedly escaped on a 10-speed bike east on Meridian Street.
A short time later, police patrolling on the 4100 block of Stanwood St. saw a man fitting a description of Lewis. The suspect was brought back to the Wawa, where he was identified by employees as the gunman, police said.
Lewis is charged with robbery.

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Check-cashing agency robbed

Police are looking for suspects after a check-cashing shop in Oxford Circle was robbed of $78,000 last Thursday.
Around 7:30 a.m., two men entered the M&G Check Cashing Agency at 1300 Cheltenham Ave. with guns and knocked the female manager to the floor, police said. A third man then entered.
The three bandits took $60,000 from the safe and $18,000 from elsewhere in the store, police said.
They fled in a dark Dodge van, described as newer-looking, police said.
Police are on the lookout for three black males. The driver is 45 to 50 years old with a light complexion and sandy-colored hair. He weighed 215 to 225 pounds, and he was wearing a gray shirt, black pants and a dark baseball hat, police said.
The second man, the gunman, is 25 to 30 years old with a dark complexion, black hair and brown eyes. He weighed 190 to 200 pounds, and he was wearing a dark do-rag, black T-shirt and black pants, police said.
Police did not get a description of the third suspect.
Information about the crime can be relayed to Northeast Detectives at 215-686-3153.

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Burglars grab guns from shop

A .45-caliber handgun seized by police last week during a crime arrest has been identified as one of the weapons stolen during the burglary of a Northeast gun shop earlier this month.
More than two dozen weapons were taken from Mike and Kate’s Sports Shoppe, on the 7400 block of Oxford Ave. in Fox Chase, during a burglary that occurred between 11 p.m. on Aug. 10 and 9 a.m. the next day.
The bandits forced entry into the store and made off with "approximately twenty-five firearms," according to officials with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Most of the weapons were handguns. The others included semi-automatics and some rifles.
One of them, the 45-caliber handgun, was recovered by officers in West Philadelphia’s 18th Police District during the Aug. 17 arrests of three suspected drug dealers.
They were taken into custody at about 1 a.m. and also were in possession of crack and cocaine, along with the gun, said authorities.
To date, it is the only weapon recovered from the theft.
The Violent Crime Impact Team, a joint task force composed of local police, ATF members and other federal agents, is investigating the crime as one with a possible connection to drug rings in West and Southwest Philadelphia, said Jen MacDonald, public information officer for the ATF Philadelphia Field Division.
The suspicion is that the stolen "firearms were funneled into those sections of the city," she explained.
ATF has jurisdiction over any theft or burglary from federally licensed gun dealers, such as Mike and Kate’s Sports Shoppe.
Mike, the shop owner who asked that his last name be withheld, said he reported the crime on Aug. 11. It was the first time his store had been robbed, the owner said.
MacDonald said the ATF is looking for the public’s help and welcomes any information about the gun thefts. A $5,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest.
The ATF phone number is 1-800-ATF-GUNS.