Tip Leads To Homeless Man's Arrest For Multiple Armed Robberies
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- A homeless man is under arrest in connection to a series of armed robberies at convenience stores in Miami.
Elvin Santiago, Jr., 25, was taken into custody Wednesday on four charges of robbery with a deadly weapon. A tipster was able to pick Santiago out of a photo lineup a day before his arrest.
Miami Police Robbery detectives noted several similarities in the robberies, including a black handgun and a taste for Newport cigarettes. In each robbery, the suspect posed as a customer at the checkout counter, waited until the cashier opened the register, then pulled out a gun and demanded cash.
Two robberies occurred in April, both after midnight. The first, on the 18th, was at CVS Pharmacy at 3695 West Flagler Street. The second, eight days later, took place at the Stop and Shop, located at 4713 West Flagler Street.
The other two robberies happened on May 2nd within a 20-minute span of each other. At 3:57 a.m., the suspect struck the Walgreens Pharmacy, located at 2700 West Flagler Street, taking cash and cigarettes. Next, at 4:16 a.m., he robbed the CVS Pharmacy, at 2710 S.W. 8 Street, getting away on foot with cash.
In at least two of the robberies, police said Santiago told the cashiers in Spanish that he "needed to feed his kids."
The gun wasn't used in any of the incidents and no one was hurt.
