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PrintCOLUMBIA — A man robbed the Grindstone Liquor and Cstore at gunpoint Wednesday night, according to a news release from the Columbia Police Department.
At approximately 11 p.m. the man entered the convenience store, located at 2513 S. Old 63, and pointed a black handgun at a 22-year-old employee and demanded money, according to the news release. The man then left the store on foot with an undisclosed amount of the store's money before police arrived. Two customers were in the store at the time of the robbery, and no one was injured, the release says.
A police K-9 unit tracked a path to the Tiger Car Wash at 2711 S. Old 63, where police found a camouflage bandanna, matching a description of one the man was wearing.
Anyone with information about the robbery can call the police department at 874-7652 or contact CrimeStoppers at 875tips.com or by calling 875-TIPS (8477).
Comments
Why can't this paper ever post more details on the robber's over all description for the public to be aware of?
Is that so hard or are you afraid of the public?
>>> The robber was described as a black male, 6 feet to 6 feet 3 inches tall and heavy-set. He was last seen wearing a long-sleeved black T-shirt that dropped down to his knees, blue jeans, a black hat and a camouflage-print bandanna. <<<
Source: Today's Trib.
These seem like important details and I'm concerned enough to comment about their omission to register for this website.
Is it more important to avert potentially thorny racial accusations or provide adequate details that may lead to this perp's arrest?
We could have two concerns here. One is why an adequate description of the perp was available but was not given.
The other concern is this: isn't this supposed to be a teaching newspaper? What is it teaching its students?
This is what someone from the Missourian posts every time people complain about not identifying the skin color of the suspect. I don't necessarily agree with it, but I figured I'd save everyone some time.
"We will publish descriptions of criminal suspects as we get them from the law enforcement agency, including the reported race of the suspect. We will try our best in EVERY case to get more detailed descriptions by questioning the police and by independently reporting. We will make sure to include the race of all suspects described as white or Caucasian, just as we do the race of those described as black, Asian or Hispanic. BEFORE we publish the race of a suspect, we will make sure the description includes at least THREE other identifying characteristics, such as weight, height, age, hair color and length, scars and tattoos."