Harris Teeter Suspects Greensboro, NC
Courtesy: Greensboro Police Dept.
Courtesy: Greensboro Police Dept.
Courtesy: Greensboro Police Dept.
Courtesy: Greensboro Police Dept.
Greensboro, NC -- The Greensboro Police Department could reach out to the FBI to ask for its help investigating a string of robberies at seven area Harris Teeter stores.
GPD Sgt. Darren Koontz said Wednesday afternoon that seeking federal assistance could be an option once an arrest is made in the cases or when investigators collect more physical evidence.
If the FBI becomes involved at some point, that might give local investigators access to an FBI crime lab, which could potentially lead to faster turnaround on pieces of evidence.
Sgt. Koontz said Greensboro police might also ask the US Attorney's Office to aid in eventually prosecuting the case in federal court, since the robberies appear to be serial crimes. A formal meeting with a federal attorney wasn't scheduled as of Wednesday afternoon.
Related: 7 Local Harris Teeter Targeted By Robbers
The crimes date back to December 2011 and began at the Harris Teeter on Skeet Club Road in High Point. A police report states that on Dec. 24, 2011, two men robbed the store director and store accountant around 6:45 a.m. The report says the suspects got away with about $4,500.
Greensboro police report a similar robbery at the Harris Teeter in Friendly Center on Jan. 31. Another happened in High Point on March 17 at the Harris Teeter on Eastchester Drive.
A rash of the crimes began Sunday morning, when Winston-Salem police reported an armed robbery at the Harris Teeter on Grant Hill Lane around 4:05 a.m. Less than 90 minutes later, Greensboro police report an attempted robbery happened at the Harris Teeter store on New Garden Road, followed shortly by another attempted robbery at the store Battleground Avenue.
The most recent robbery was reported Tuesday morning, around 4:10, at the Harris Teeter on Pisgah Church Road in Greensboro. A release from GPD says two suspects entered the store with handguns and threatened the staff. They then pried open some of the registers.
Police in all three cities are working together, as well as with Harris Teeter. The Matthews, NC-based grocery store chain said it will begin adding uniformed security to each of its Triad stores, including Burlington locations, beginning Wednesday night.
WFMY News 2