Investigators with the Omaha Police Department say they are investigating a string of robberies, some exceedingly violent, many they believe could be related.
But there is more to the story. Two or three groups may be responsible for many of the most recent robbery cases. Detectives say some groups of robbers are just more violent than others. It seems at lease one of the groups hitting Omaha businesses is not afraid to hit and threaten clerks and customers.
One of the more recent businesses to be hit was in the Midtown Crossing neighborhood, the first time in five years Sam's Food & Liquor had been held up.
Layket Khan has invested heavily in security cameras so investigators with OPD have plenty of video of the robbery, but Layket says they won't get a good look at the gunman who held his store up. "Everything is covered, face, mouth and hoodie, so police haven't figured out who is this guy. That is the problem."
Another problem is that the robbers are good at what they do. The know the cameras are on so they cover up. They know that police are usually just a few minutes away so they grab what they can in about 60 seconds.
With that limited time frame in mind, some robbers don't want to waste time arguing. "They put the gun to his head and told him to sit down," said Khan. "He brought one bag and put in there cigarettes and expensive alcohol."
Because the crooks know what they're doing it will be more difficult to catch them. Channel 6 News asked one detective several weeks ago what it would take to catch them. "Hope for the assistance of the public, hope that an officer is in the right place at the right time, hope that the store they are robbing has quality video," said Detective Scott Orsi.
The video is high quality, but with faces and hands covered it will take more to catch the crooks.
Detective Orsi says everyone needs to be more aware of their surroundings. When we see something or someone who is suspicious, we should take note of vehicle descriptions or license plate numbers at that time because tomorrow, after we learn about the robbery, it will be difficult to recall.
