Crime & Safety

'Dreadlocked' Gunman Robs Haddon Twp. Dollar Tree

Eyewitnesses say the perpetrator was wearing a wig that he discarded in his escape. No one was harmed.

About 30 minutes before closing time Monday night, a man disguised in a dreadlocked wig stole nearly $1,000 from the Haddon Township at gunpoint, then fled in a maroon sedan.

Nobody was harmed, but the incident stunned a pair of young clerks more so because they’ve seen the man in the store before.

“It seems he’s been targeting us,” said Joe, 24, a Haddon Township native, who asked to be identified only by his first name.

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“We’re all hyped up.”

Another clerk, 19, who asked not to be identified*, was working in the front of the shop when it happened.

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He noticed a man, mid-20s, early 30s, with elaborately bobby-pinned dreadlocks. The clerk had seen the man before, and for some reason, tonight, the recognition made him uneasy.

He wasn’t alone in his suspicions.

“An old lady said he was up to no good,” the clerk said. “As soon as she left, he did it.”

Joe said, the man “came into the back, where the customers aren’t allowed, and pulled out a gun.

“He said ‘I don’t want any trouble,’” Joe said.

Joe said he then positioned himself between the man and the safe while entering the security code. He unlocked it and pulled out a pile of cash he estimates at $1,000. The man took it and left the store.

Joe said two customers reported to police that the thief drove off in a maroon, four-door sedan—but not before discarding his dreadlocks, which were, in fact, a wig.

The Dollar Tree is located at 662 West Cuthbert Blvd. in the Westmont Shopping Plaza. Haddon Township Police were called to the scene around 8:30 p.m. Monday evening, according to emergency dispatch reports.

An officer on the scene declined to comment, and calls to the station non-emergency line were not immediately returned.

Stay with Patch for more details as they emerge.

*EDITOR'S NOTE: Since the publication of the first draft of this story, the second clerk, who was initially quoted by his first name only, requested to have his name withdrawn from it.


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