Wichita police grappling with jump in armed robberies of businesses

Armed robberies of businesses are up dramatically in Wichita this year, and police are struggling to find answers.

Not only are the numbers up, police officials say, the violence level in many of the cases is increasing as well.

“They do seem to be more aggressive,” Sgt. Stephen Patton, who heads the robbery section of the Wichita Police Department, said of the robbers. “They’re always dangerous. You never can tell what a person’s going to do” in that situation.

“It’s definitely something that’s concerning the heck out of me.”

Through Thursday night, there had been 102 armed robberies of businesses so far this year. That’s up 33 percent over the same time last year and nearly 50 percent over 2013.

Patton said he doesn’t know the reason for the increase. It’s not driven by crooks trying to generate cash for the holidays, he said, because the largest increases came in the spring and summer.

“They’re not stealing to get Christmas presents for their kids,” he said.

Special Community Action Teams were ordered to focus on robbery cases and made arrests Patton hoped would quiet the surge in armed robberies. But it hasn’t happened, he said.

“It seems like we snatch up a couple of people, and more follow right behind them,” Patton said.

Robberies where the criminals come in waving a gun are particularly concerning, Patton said, because “anything’s possible.”

Though it doesn’t count in Wichita’s statistics, Patton said the shooting of Julie Dombo in a Derby phone store is an example of how quickly robberies can become violent.

Dombo survived the shooting, and the man accused of the robbery has been arrested and charged with multiple crimes in the case. But Dombo’s injuries were so severe she had to have both hands and both feet amputated.

Even armed robberies without a trigger being pulled can be traumatic, police say.

There was the robber who pressed the barrel of his handgun so forcefully against a clerk’s head earlier this year that it left an impression in the skin. Several robbers have ordered employees to the floor at gunpoint — including two NuWay employees on West Central last Tuesday night.

“When you come in, pull out a gun and put it right in somebody’s face, it definitely ratchets things up” in intensity, Patton said.

Detectives and officers are continuing to work hard to solve robberies, Patton said, but there’s something people can do to reduce the risk of being a robbery victim: Be aware.

“If something doesn’t look right and your gut feeling says ‘This isn’t right,’ trust your instincts,” Patton said. “Call 911.

“You can replace merchandise and you can replace vehicles, but you can’t replace people,” he said. “Don’t hesitate to call us if something doesn’t look right.”

This story was originally published November 21, 2015 at 5:20 PM with the headline "Wichita police grappling with jump in armed robberies of businesses."