Robbery near Bluffton apartment could be related to earlier parking lot robberies, police say
An armed robbery Thursday at a Bluffton apartment complex may be related to recent armed robberies in the parking lots of Hispanic businesses in the town, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report.
A man who lives in Avalon Shores Apartments was walking to his apartment on Simmonsville Road around 7:30 p.m. when two black men ran up behind him, pointed black handguna and demanded money, the report said. The man gave them his wallet and phone before the suspects — described as 6-foot tall and slender, between 25 and 30 years old, and wearing dark pants and camo hoodies —ran away, the report said.
A detective with the Bluffton Police Department contacted the Sheriff’s Office to say he believed the incident was related to “several robberies of Hispanics by two black males,” the report said.
In a Jan. 10 news release, Bluffton Police asked the public for help in finding suspects involved in five armed robberies in the parking lot of Hispanic businesses including: La Mexicana on Simmonsville Road, El Super International on Sherrington Drive, and Don Chanitos on Sable Drive.
In those cases, victims say a man approached them holding a gun and demanded their money and phone as they sat in their cars or were getting out.
Those incidents took place between Dec. 27 and Jan. 6, the release said.
