Robberies, Carjacking in Newport News

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Three armed robberies in just 30 minutes happened early Tuesday morning in Newport News.  Detectives tell WAVY.com a gas station in the 5,000 block of Mercury Boulevard was hit, followed by a store in the 11,500 block of Jefferson Avenue, and finally, a man was carjacked in a parking lot in the 900 block of J. Clyde Morris Boulevard.

Detectives say it started around 5:15 Tuesday morning at a Shell gas station in the 5000 block of Mercury Boulevard.  Two men walked in, pointed guns at employees and demanded money.

"Several minutes after that, there was a second reported business robbery at Groome and Jefferson which is the 7-Eleven," says Detective Davis of the Newport News Police Department.

That 7-Eleven, Detective Davis mentioned, is just over three miles away from the Shell station.  Newport News police shared surveillance video with WAVY.com.  It shows a very similar scene as the Shell station robbery.

One suspect, armed with a long gun forced the clerk to hand over money from the cash register, while the second suspect pointed a handgun at a customer off camera, according to Davis.

"Anytime that someone comes in a business or robs a person with a firearm it's pretty serious and it can have deadly results, but again, in this particular case, the guns were just displayed and the robberies took place, but no one was hurt."

Moments after the suspects left with money from the 7-Eleven, Davis says a man was robbed and carjacked in a parking lot along J. Clyde Morris Boulevard. The description of the suspects is a familiar one, two men armed with a long gun and handgun.

Davis said the victims did everything right.

"They complied, they gave up the money that they were asked to give up during the robbery."

Did the suspects have enough time rob two stores and carjack a person in a half hour?

"Depending on their mode of transportation it could be very possible and again everything is still under investigation. That is something we're looking at. The times that it occurred, the proximities," says Davis.

Davis says the suspects were last seen driving toward York County in a blue, 2006 Hyundai Sonata.  If you have any information that can help police in their investigation, call the Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.