Police seek man, woman linked to daytime crimes in northwest Wichita
Police are looking for two people linked to criminal activity at two busy parking lots near NewMarket Square on Monday afternoon.
A 79-year-old woman reported that a male stranger in his 20s approached her in the Dillons parking lot in the 10000 block of West 21st Street at about 3:30 p.m., pointed a gun at her and demanded her purse, Wichita police Sgt. Nikki Woodrow said.
The woman complied and the man left in a tan or gold Hyundai Santa Fe driven by a woman, police said. The vehicle had a temporary tag. The robbery was witnessed by a 48-year-old woman, Woodrow said.
Just four minutes later, a man approached a 45-year-old woman in the Wal-Mart parking lot west of Maize Road and asked for her purse while lifting his shirt to display a handgun tucked into the waistband of his pants.
“She ran toward Wal-Mart, yelling for help,” Woodrow said.
That apparently spooked the suspect, who ran off. The suspect is a white or Hispanic male in his mid-20s, the victims told police. He was about 5-feet-9 with a thin build. He was wearing a white shirt, khaki shorts, tennis shoes and a tan baseball hat.
The driver of the Santa Fe is a white woman with brown hair pulled up in a ponytail, the first victim told police. She was wearing a red shirt.
Woodrow lauded the victims for responding properly to the threats and giving good descriptions of the suspects.
“We will find them, we will arrest them, and it’s because of” the descriptions provided, Woodrow said.
The cases are rather unusual, she said, because the crimes occurred in broad daylight in the middle of the afternoon at very busy locations.
Police are looking into whether security cameras captured video of the suspects or the crimes, Woodrow said.
Anyone with information about the suspects is being asked to call Crime Stoppers at 316-267-2111 or police investigations at 316-268-4407.
Stan Finger: 316-268-6437, @StanFinger
This story was originally published June 21, 2016 at 12:05 PM with the headline "Police seek man, woman linked to daytime crimes in northwest Wichita."