Robbery Of Tidyman’s Stores May Be Related Similarly Described Suspect May Also Be Linked To Other Robberies
Two Tidyman’s grocery stores were robbed Thursday night within 15 minutes of each other.
Investigators are looking into whether the two robberies are connected with two other recent robberies of North Idaho stores.
The Coeur d’Alene Tidyman’s store at 410 W. Neider Ave. was the first to be hit Thursday about 10:15 p.m., according to a Coeur d’Alene police report.
The robber walked up to a cashier pretending to buy toilet bowl cleaner. He then pulled his jacket up, showing a revolver in his waistband, according to the report.
“Give me everything in the till,” the robber demanded. The cashier complied.
Before leaving the robber told the cashier, “Sorry about this.”
The Post Falls store on 1501 E. Seltice Way was robbed at 10:30 p.m.
The robber first pretended to buy candy bars but then - as in the first instance - pulled up his shirt and exposed a gun at his waist, said Post Falls Police Detective Dick Halligan.
The robber was seen driving away from the store in an 1980s model gray Nissan four-wheel-drive pickup truck with another man.
“It was a long night,” said Jerry Streeter, vice president of Tidyman’s. He said the employees who were robbed were shaken up but OK. “I gave them a couple days off with pay to relax a little.”
He said all of his employees are required to take robbery training. They are taught never to resist but to get detailed descriptions of the robbers.
In both of the Thursday robberies, the robbers were described as thin white men in their early 20s, about 6 feet tall and 170 pounds.
The description of the robbery is similar to two other holdups. The Coeur d’Alene Target store was robbed Tuesday and the Goodwill store was robbed Jan. 10. In all four instances the robbers used a revolver, Bergh said.
‘The general height, the thin frame, the way the weapon is carried, those things are similar in these instances,” said Coeur d’Alene Police Capt. Carl Bergh. “We have to look at the possibility that either one or two individuals are responsible.”
Police ask that anyone with information about the robberies call the Coeur d’Alene Police Department at (208) 769-2320.
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