Latest robbery marks 18th in two months

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - An overnight robbery at a Lafayette Village Pantry on North 14th Street marks the 18th robbery in the area during the past two months.

Data provided by the Lafayette Police Department shows on average a robbery has occurred nearly every other day in Lafayette during November and so far this month.

"It's unusually high compared to previous years," crime analyst with the Lafayette Police Department Steve Hawthorne said. "You can just say that yes, they are increasing."

The latest robbery happened at the Village Pantry on North 14th Street in Lafayette just after midnight Friday morning.

The suspect wore a mask and pulled out a semi-automatic handgun before making off with an undisclosed amount of cash along with cigarettes.

While data shows robbery numbers are higher than last year during this time, Hawthorne said police don't have an answer as to why so many robberies are happening.

"Why?" Hawthorne asked. "I have no idea. We don't really know."

Hawthorne said data suggests a total of 66 robberies happened in Lafayette so far during 2012.

Forty-seven robberies occurred in 2011 in Lafayette. However, with numbers that high Hawthorne said there have been a significant amount of arrests. 

"One of the good things is that most of the perpetrators are being arrested," Hawthorne explained. "We have almost a 30 percent arrest ratio for robberies that occur in this area."

But Hawthorne said these types of crimes are typically "seasonal."

"Often urban type cities see an increase around the holiday season," Hawthorne said. "Some departments call it a holiday rush where people seem to go out. There are more burglaries, more robberies and more thefts."

Authorities are just reminding residents to report any suspicious activity to police and always be aware of your surroundings in order to steer clear of being a victim of robbery.

Police are releasing a very limited description of the man in Friday morning's robbery at the Village Pantry on 14th Street.

He's described as a black male, 5 feet 4 inches tall and 160 pounds.

He was last seen wearing blue jeans, a black jacket with a gray T-shirt underneath.

If you have any information, call Lafayette police or the We-Tip hotline at 1-800-78-CRIME.