Armed mem rob Walnut St. shop

Armed men took $700 from the computer store near Cinemagic. Two masked men armed with guns stormed into the University Micro Computers store late yesterday afternoon, taking more than $700 in cash before jumping into a car and fleeing west on Walnut Street, police said. No injuries were reported in the incident, and no arrests had been made as of last night. Both suspects wore knit ski masks. Police described one suspect as 5'10", weighing more than 300 pounds and wearing a beige shirt and dark pants. The other was described as 5'6" with a medium build and wearing a blue hooded jacket and blue jeans. They robbed the store, located adjacent to the Cinemagic 3 movie theater at 3925 Walnut Street, at about 5:45 p.m., police said. "They said, 'Give me money,' " said the cashier on duty at the time, who asked to remain anonymous. "I thought they were joking, [and] I said, 'No way!' " The cashier said he surrendered when a couple browsing in a corner of the store began "gesturing" to him. "They came in so fast, I could understand [the cashier] thinking they were playing around," said the male customer, who also requested anonymity. After the men entered the store, they approached the customers and held guns to their chests, pushing them into the corner, the customer added. The two suspects then walked to the cash register, demanding from the clerk that they see the safe. According to the customer, the cashier did not realize that the smaller suspect had pointed his gun at him until he began waving at him from the back of the store. When they asked for money again, the cashier directed the two suspects to a female employee sitting at another counter, where he said the store secures cash earned in daily sales. While the smaller suspect pointed his gun at the male cashier, the larger one walked behind the counter and grabbed "at least $700 in cash" from the female employee before running out, she said. The female customer then called 9-1-1, alerting University and Philadelphia police. The robbery is currently under investigation by the Philadelphia Police Department's Southwest Detectives Bureau. "Oh, I was [having a] heart attack," the female employee said. "And today [we had] good sales." She said $700 was "unusually good" for cash revenues, noting that sales for the previous day had been $50. Police said the suspects were last seen fleeing west on Walnut Street in a blue car with silver chrome that was identified as either a Chevrolet Cavalier or a Pontiac Sunbird. The robbery of University Micro Computers comes about a week after two men -- also armed with guns and wearing ski masks -- robbed the Houston Hall Burger King of $1,550 in cash. Both suspects in that February 10 incident remain at large. It is unclear if the two incidents are related.