It's always a thankless task, manning the counter at a convenience store, but it was particularly unpleasant for those who happened to be working the graveyard shift at southern Dallas 7-Elevens last night. In the span of just over an hour and a half, four of the stores were robbed at gunpoint.
Police say the first robbery occurred at 1:50 a.m. at the 7-Eleven at Grand Avenue and Samuell Boulevard. A customer, described by the clerk as black man in his early 20s, about 5-foot-8 and 160 pounds, walked up the counter and put down two bags of chips. He was wearing a gray hoodie with the hood up, the words "Flyer Than Most" emblazoned on the front in pink and blue.
The man said he'd forgotten his wallet in the car and walked outside to go get it. When he returned, he had a handgun and a black bag, which he made the clerk fill with the money from the register ($130) and two boxes of Newports. He drove off with another man, who had stayed outside as a lookout.
Forty minutes later and six miles away, the same thing happened at a 7-Eleven at Marsalis Avenue and Davis Street, this time with the robber taking $70. Another 45 minutes and seven miles to the south, it was the location at Red Bird Lane and University Hills Drive. Back north again, robbers next targeted a 7-Eleven on Beckley and Illinois avenues.
The thieves ended the night with about $700, which, even when you deduct the couple of gallons of gas they spent driving around southern Dallas, is a nice haul for a couple of hours' work.
Unfortunately for them, they don't seem to have done a great job of covering their tracks. The gunman's face is all over 7-Eleven's surveillance cameras, and he wasn't wearing any gloves, leaving open the possibility that he left behind fingerprints.
In other words, if they're planning on spending the money, they'd better do it fast.
