UNA — A pair of armed robbers have struck again in Clay County.
Two black men described as being in their 20s forced their way into a home on Highway 47 in Una Monday night, striking the lone resident over the head with a lamp, binding him with the lamp”s cord and robbing the home.
The crime fits the description of a robbery which took place Dec. 27 on Pinkerton Road in Clay County. The incidents are also similar to a series of home-invasion robberies which took place in Columbus late last year.
In Monday”s robbery, the male resident answered a knock at his front door around 11:30 p.m. to find a 5-foot-8, stocky black man claiming he was experiencing car trouble and needed help. The suspect and another man, described as 6-foot-2 and thin, then forced their way into the home brandishing a gun.
After binding the resident, the men moved to the bedroom where they stole the victim”s wallet and a small pistol before leaving. The victim, who sustained minor injuries, was unable to determine if the men fled on foot or had a car waiting.
Eddie Scott, chief deputy for the Clay County Sheriff”s Office, believes the same men committed both robberies. He says investigators have multiple leads and are “homing in” on the men.
“We”ve got several names (of suspects). We”re narrowing it down. Our main concern is them making another (robbery) before we can get them arrested,” said Scott.
Anyone who receives a knock at the door after dark should determine who is outside before opening the door, he said. If a stranger is requesting assistance, Scott recommends calling 911 and alerting the person at the door help is on the way.
The victim in the December robbery, Ruby Coggins, owner of Club G”s in the White Station community, was being dropped off at her home by an acquaintance when the two men appeared from behind the house and forced the women inside. The two women were bound with duct tape but unharmed. The suspects escaped with a cash bag containing $3,000 and stole one victim”s SUV. The vehicle was found abandoned a half-mile from Coggins” home.
Scott believes the men knew Coggins would be carrying a large amount of cash. It”s unknown if the men knew Monday”s victim would be home alone.
In Monday”s robbery the suspects exposed their faces to their victim. Scott says the CCSO is in the process of getting sketches.
Columbus incident
Similar robberies occurred in Columbus in late October. Three black males wearing black robes, surgical masks and turbans entered an Eighth Street North home and robbed a contract painter at gunpoint while he was working in an unoccupied house. They took an undisclosed amount of cash from the painter and forced him into a bathroom before fleeing the house.
Just days prior, three black males dressed in black clothes and black ski masks knocked at the door of a home at 901 11th St. S.
They then forced their way inside and robbed the resident of a home phone after he told the assailants there was no money in the house.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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