• • •
The story began long before Vieri’s chance encounter with the robbery suspects outside of a Wissinoming 7-Eleven store on July 9. In fact, police had been hunting for the same group of young men for four months.
In mid-March, police believe, the same suspects robbed a Sunoco A-Plus store at 6865 Rising Sun Ave. — twice within 10 days. A month later, they allegedly committed a similar crime at another Sunoco shop, at 5700 Roosevelt Blvd.
In June, the big run on robberies unfolded as the suspects struck at the Roosevelt Boulevard Sunoco three more times, along with another Sunoco in Germantown twice.
The men targeted 7-Eleven stores, too, including a location in Holmesburg on two occasions, along with stores in Tacony and Juniata one time each.
A July 1 robbery at a Pantry One shop in Frankford made it 13 heists that police attributed directly to the same suspects.
Early on during the pattern of crimes, police appealed to the public for any information about the robbers. Security-camera images were broadcast and published by the city’s news media.
"This was number one on our list, (capturing) this crew," said one local police officer.
One aspect that made investigators particularly edgy was that the suspects seemed to engage in increasing levels of violence with each ensuing crime.
"These were nasty guys. The violence was escalating," said Capt. Jack McGinnis of Northeast Detectives. "At Pantry One (on July 1), they came in, put a customer in a headlock and put a gun in his face."
Surveillance videos from the stores showed much of the shocking action.
"It was almost like watching (fiction) movies, seeing how these went down," McGinnis said. "It was life imitating art."
There were no reports of serious injuries to any store patrons or employees, however. By one detective’s estimate, the suspects generally made off with hundreds of dollars each time.
Investigators determined that four individuals were involved and rotated roles in the heists. Two lead robbers would go into the store with guns drawn, while a third would stay at the door. The fourth guy would wait in a vehicle around the corner.
As the crimes mounted, police began receiving reports of a gold Ford Windstar as the possible getaway van.
• • •
Michael Vieri unknowingly spotted that van shortly after 3 a.m. on July 9 as he circled the neighborhood near a Frankford 7-Eleven while looking for a car he had been hired to tow.
The truck driver saw the gold Ford van parked suspiciously in the middle of a common driveway behind a row of homes. Its lights were out but its engine was running. A young man sat behind the wheel.
Soon, Vieri saw a couple of guys running out of the convenience store at 5231 Harbison Ave., their heads obscured by hoods. The street-savvy former city resident knew right away what he had stumbled upon.
The fleeing robbery suspects jumped into the van, but the driver kept it in park.
"They didn’t pull out until I pulled into the 7-Eleven," Vieri said. "They sat in the driveway for four or five minutes. They didn’t want me to get their plate number, so they sat there."
As Vieri pulled into the 7-Eleven lot, he found the store owner outside on a cell phone, trying in broken English to explain the situation to a 911 operator.
Vieri took the phone and gave the operator the details. Meanwhile, the store owner flagged down Sgt. John Mulholland of the 15th district, who happened to be driving up Harbison Avenue. Vieri went to the lawman and gave him the details.
"I said ‘1998 Windstar’ and he knew right away what it was," Vieri said.
Mulholland, who recently had joined the 15th on loan from the 7th district, knew the description of the van from reading reports of the prior robberies.
Just as Vieri was about to tell the officer exactly where he’d seen the van in the rear driveway, he saw the suspects driving past the very store that had just been robbed.
"I told (Mulholland), ‘There they go right there, down Torresdale Avenue!’" Vieri said.
Mulholland did a quick turnaround in his car and began to tail the van from a distance while calling police radio for backup assistance.
"I knew if I lit them up, they were going to take off," the sergeant said. "I wanted to make sure it ended as quietly as possible and as peaceably as possible.
"I always preach safety, especially now. I’ve had two (Police Academy) classmates killed since I’ve been on the job."
• • •
Within a minute or two, more than two-dozen officers from the 15th and neighboring 24th district were converging on the van as it continued onto westbound Erie Avenue in Juniata. At the intersection with Castor Avenue, Mulholland gave the word to move in.
"They didn’t make an effort to take off," the sergeant said of the suspects.
Vieri soon showed up to identify the suspects he saw fleeing the store. The shop owner also served as a witness.
Four males were inside the van, ages 17, 18, 19 and 20. Police allegedly recovered one semi-automatic handgun and three black BB guns from the van. Three of the four suspects had no prior criminal history.
Detectives Tim Tague and Tom Altimare interrogated the suspects and linked them to the 13 other robberies. All four have been charged in the crimes. The investigators continue to review other unsolved robberies for possible links to the same group.
For his part, Vieri knew nothing about the prior robberies when he came face to face with the suspects, but he didn’t hesitate to do the right thing.
"I wanted to identify them and put them away," he said. ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com