Iowa City police investigating armed robbery

IOWA CITY - The Iowa City Police Department is investigating a report of an armed robbery - the sixth robbery in the city in the last month.

Officers responded to the area of Gilbert and Fairchild streets, just north of downtown, at 8:17 p.m. Thursday for an armed robbery. The alleged victim told police he had been approached from behind and pushed to the ground. The man said he believed a gun was pressed to the back of his head.

Police said three suspects took some of the man's belongings and then fled. The victim, who was not injured, went to his apartment and called police. Officers flooded the area, but were unable to locate the suspects.

The three suspects are described as tall, thin black men, possibly in their early 20s. The men were wearing black hoodies and dark-colored stocking caps, police said. Two of the men displayed handguns.

Thursday night's robbery marks the sixth in the city since early November.

- On Nov. 11, the Kum & Go on Mormon Trek Boulevard was robbed by a black man who displayed a knife.

- On Nov. 22, a woman reported she was robbed by two black men near the intersection of Muscatine Avenue and William Street.

- On Nov. 23, a man was injured when he was knocked to the ground near Washington and Linn streets by four black men who then stole his money and belongings.

- On Nov. 29, a cabdriver reported he was robbed by two black men after dropping them off in the area of Baker Street and Bradford Drive. One of the men was armed, police said.

- On Nov. 30, a cabdriver reported he was sprayed in the face with what was believed to be pepper spray by a black woman in the area of Mormon Trek Boulevard and Petsel Place. The woman was accompanied by a black man.

Iowa City Police Sgt. Scott Gaarde said robberies in the city 'tend to be fairly cyclical.” After police make arrests, the robberies die down for a period of time, he said.

Given the similarities of some of the crimes and the suspect descriptions, Gaarde said police are investigating any possible connections between the robberies.

'We're not eliminating any of the possibilities that the same people are involved in some of these robberies,” Gaarde said.

Iowa City Area CrimeStoppers is offering rewards for information leading to the arrest of all of the robbery suspects. Anyone with information is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 358-TIPS.