Walgreens managers planned armed robberies of their own store in DC, feds say
Armed robberies plagued a Walgreens store in the Chinatown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. for months. Now, federal officials say they were an inside job.
Two of the managers of the Walgreens, and two other people, are accused of planning the robberies ahead of time and staging the attacks while pretending to be “victims,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said in a Thursday, Feb. 22 indictment.
The managers, ages 33 and 20, and the two “robbers,” ages 24 and 26, were indicted on 15 counts, including charges of conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce by robbery, brandishing a firearm during the commission of an act of violence and unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a person convicted of a crime, federal officials said in a Feb. 22 news release.
Attorneys representing three of the members of the group could not be immediately reached. Representation for the 20-year-old manager was not available.
Beginning in July 2023, the store managers hatched a plan to have two other people commit fake armed robberies about once a month at their store, alternating who would be working when the robberies occurred, officials said.
The managers knew when the store received cash transfers and had the most money, according to the indictment, and they instructed the “robbers” to come to the store on those days.
During each robbery, a masked gunman would come into the store and demand access to the manager’s office, officials said. Then, they would use a code that had already been provided by the managers to access the office and take the money, according to the indictment.
During a robbery in September, one of the managers told the fake robber to hit him with their gun to “make the robbery seem more believable,” federal officials said.
The robbers took between $4,000 and $5,000 in the first hit, $6,000 in the second robbery, $6,000 in a third attack, $7,000 in a fourth robbery, $5,000 in a fifth attack, $3,000 in a sixth hit and an unknown amount during their final attack on Feb. 11, 2024, according to the indictment.
Officials said after each attack the managers and fake robbers went back to a home shared by one of the managers and one of the robbers. There, they would divide up the money between them, the indictment said.
Outside of the robberies that were carried out, federal officials said the group planned other robberies through messages between the co-conspirators.
The two fake robbers regularly came to the store to see where the armed security guards stood and check on the amount of money in the manager’s office to pick the perfect time for a hit, federal officials said.
All four members of the group have been taken into custody, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
This story was originally published February 23, 2024 at 8:33 AM with the headline "Walgreens managers planned armed robberies of their own store in DC, feds say."
