Armed robbers in latest Philadelphia-area Brinks truck heist took $700,000 or more, police say

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PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Police are investigating whether the armed robbery of a Brinks truck on Tuesday outside a Philadelphia-area store is related to four other attacks on armored vehicles in and around the city this summer.

Two armed males got away with between $700,000 and $800,000 in the midday Tuesday heist at an H Mart in Elkins Park, according to Cheltenham Township police. The robbers — one described as armed with an AR-15-style pistol, the other with a handgun — fled with the cash and later abandoned their vehicle nearby, police said. No shots were fired, and no one was injured.

Cheltenham Township Police Lt. Andrew Snyder said it's the first such robbery in their township, but authorities are looking into whether it may be connected to four robberies of armored cars in and around Philadelphia since June that police and the FBI are investigating as possibly related.

Federal prosecutors announced Wednesday that three people from Philadelphia who were arrested in early August are charged in connection with the $2 million armed robbery of a Brink's armored vehicle outside a Home Depot on June 21.

A Loomis armored transport vehicle was held up outside an Aldi in a different neighborhood five days later. Then on July 2, a Brinks truck was held up outside a Dollar General at a shopping center. And on July 15, police had a report of two suspects robbing one of the armored vehicles in northeast Philadelphia.

FBI agent Wayne Jacobs told CBS News Philadelphia that law enforcement recovered most of the money stolen in the June 21 heist, as well as a number of long weapons and handguns. Some of the money had been spent on jewelry, clothes and other items, he said.

“If this is the type of activity you’re going to engage in, if you look at the timeline, six weeks from the time of the incident until the time of the arrest,” Jacobs said, “it’s just a matter of time before you’re held accountable for your actions.”