Cinnabon bakery robbed at gunpoint

The Cinnabon bakery at 3405 Walnut Street was robbed at gunpoint yesterday, marking the second incident at the bakery in the past two weeks, according to University Police Captain John Richardson. In yesterday's robbery, Cinnabon reported that a male entered the store at 3:18 p.m. After pointing a gun at employees, he took $200 in cash. The suspect was last seen heading west on the 3400 block of Sansom Street, Richardson said. In an unrelated incident yesterday afternoon, shots were fired during a robbery at 46th and Woodland streets, according to Philadelphia Police. No one was reported to be injured in that incident. In regard to the Cinnabon robbery, Richardson said he did not know if the bakery's location makes it a particularly easy target. "The suspect may have planned to commit a crime, in view of the fact that he had a weapon," he said. "But it may have been a crime of opportunity, rather than one that was previously planned." Just over a week ago, Cinnabon reported the theft of $100 in cash and three boxes of cinnamon buns between 3 a.m. on February 25 and 6 a.m. on the 26th. The bottom window of the restaurant's door was smashed in the burglary. There were no arrests, according to Richardson. Also on the 3400 block of Walnut Street, Foot Locker was victim of an armed robbery January 27. Richardson said the gunmen stole almost $2,000 in cash, in addition to $1,000 in merchandise during the robbery. He added that the gunmen managed to disarm Foot Locker's private security guard, who is armed with a 9mm Glock handgun, before proceeding to rob the store. Following the robbery, the gunmen escaped in a late model Dodge that had been waiting outside. There were no arrests, according to Richardson. After the incident, a plainclothes security guard joined Foot Locker's armed guard in standing watch over the store. Both yesterday's Cinnabon robbery and the Foot Locker robbery -- and the robbery at Commerce Bank at 38th and Walnut streets on Monday afternoon -- took place on a main street during a time when the street was well populated. But Richardson said that since the actual robberies probably only took a few minutes, "people outside may not have even known that a crime had taken place."