Police are searching for a cigarette thief who's pulled off at least four robberies at Miami stores in the past week.
The first robbery was reportedly shortly before 2 a.m. on May 9 at a Walgreens at 200 Southwest 13th Street.
The store's clerk said he was checking out a customer when the suspect walked behind the counter and started grabbing packs of cigarettes.
When the clerk ordered the suspect to leave, the suspect said he had a gun and would shoot the clerk if he tried to stop him, police said.
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Two days later, around 4:30 a.m. on May 11, the same suspect went back to the same store, where employees said he went behind the counter and started loading cigarettes and lighters into a bag.
When the employees tried to stop him from escaping, the suspect told them he'd shoot them, police said.
The next day, May 12, the same suspect stole several packs of cigarettes from behind the counter of a Walgreens at 1699 Northwest 7th Street.
During that robbery, he threatened employees by revealing that he was armed with a knife underneath his shirt.
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Then on May 13, the suspect robbed a Family Dollar at 1085 Northwest 36th Street, police said.
Two store employees reported that while they were working behind the counter, the suspect jumped the counter and demanded that they get away from him if they did not want to get hurt.
The suspect loaded several packs of cigarettes into a bag before fleeing the scene.
Police on Monday released surveillance images and cellphone video of the suspect, who they described as about 5-foot-8 or 5-foot-9, 29-35 years of age, with a slim build and trimmed beard.
"We have no doubt that he will in fact carry out that type of threat because he’s quite brazen and we do not want him to strike again. We don’t want any employees to get hurt," Miami Police spokesperson Kiara Delva said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.
