SEATTLE — Seattle police are looking for a gang of men who have been terrorizing Seattle neighborhoods for the last week.
The locations of 10 violent robberies stretch from Green Lake to as far south as Holly Park.
Police are asking for the public's help because the attacks have been random and violent.
In one incident in the Central District, a man was carjacked and later pistol-whipped.
The victim said his attackers were from Somalia -- a description police said they have heard multiple times.
Police said in all 10 robberies, there are some definite similarities – a gang of five or six young black men described by their victims as Somali or East African.
They surprise their victims, and in six of the 10 robberies, used a gun or knife to intimidate the victims and steal wallets, purses and phones.
“This is obviously a concern, just because we have what we would call a pattern, the same guys doing essentially the same things over and over to multiple victims,” said Seattle police Officer Jeff Kappel.
Most of the robberies were quick.
On Aug. 3 near Cal Anderson Park, two men were robbed of their iPhones and wallets at gunpoint and told to keep walking.
Police said that a half-hour later, the same group of men climbed into a man’s car outside hookah bar in the Central District, pointed a gun at him and forced him to drive to Renton.
Police said the men pistol-whipped the victim and stole his wallet.
Investigators said the group looks for easy targets.
“These guys have isolated, in many cases, a lone person, or a lone young person or a female,” said Kappel.
It’s a crime spree that has extended from July 31 to Aug. 5.
Police said because the victims targeted by the group are random, it’s a tough case to solve.
The robbers have committed crimes as far north as Green Lake and the University District, committed three crimes on Capitol Hill and moved from West Seattle down to Holly Park.
Police said the getaway car in some of the crimes was a green Toyota Camry.
KIRO
