AMES – Two different apartment robberies in Ames – but they’re also pretty similar. Tonight, Ames Police are trying to make connections between them.
The first armed robbery happened last Thursday on the Iowa State University campus around 4:00 p.m. in the afternoon. Five men – one of them armed with a rifle – came into the apartment while the resident was home, took cash and a cell phone and then left.
And less than 24 hours ago, a similar armed robbery happened on Welch Avenue in Ames.
“It’s just a little kind of, a little nerve-wracking, I guess,” said Ames resident Adam Cha.
Nervous and worried – that’s how some people in Ames are feeling tonight after last night’s armed robbery.
Cha, a junior at ISU, lives in the apartment where it all happened.
“I didn’t know that it happened or anything like that. And I’m just kind of, you know, I was just ten feet below it,” Cha said.
Police say this was a targeted robbery and that the suspects knew exactly what they were looking for. The victims say the four black men – in their late teens are early 20s – broke into their apartment, carrying a rifle and handguns.
“And they said they put all the people on the floor and they started rummaging through the apartment,” said Commander Jason Tuttle of the Ames Police Department.
So what do you do if this happens?
“I don’t know if there’s much you can do when someone comes in with guns and kicks down doors,” Cha said.
Especially when this isn’t the first time a similar incident has happened in the area. Last Thursday, five men broke into the West Apartments on the ISU campus.
Commander Tuttle says it’s too early to say if the two are connected – but it’s possible.
“There’s a lot of similarities in both robberies. We’ve been working closely this morning with Iowa State [University] police investigators, comparing notes on the case they had last week,” Commander Tuttle said.
And while authorities work to figure out who did this – and why – residents, like Cha, are trying to stay positive.
“We’ll just have to keep putting our trust in that, Ames Police are doing a good job with their job and that they’ll find the suspects and keep us safe,” Cha said.
Safe – and with all their belongings.
The suspects left the apartment on Welch Avenue in Ames on foot last night, but police were unable to find them.
Authorities are asking anyone with any information about the suspects or the robbery to contact the Ames Police Department immediately.
