Police: most recent apartment complex robberies could be copycats

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) Police believe Saturday's armed robbery and attempted armed robbery at apartment complexes may not be connected to the string of armed robberies they recently reported.

Timeline: Apartment robberies and attempts

As of Friday night, the Fort Wayne Police Department had reported eight armed robberies in apartment complexes that they believed to be related. The seventh and eighth robberies turned into home invasions in which the suspects tied the residents up.

On Saturday, Canterbury Green and Colony Bay Apartments were targeted, but police believe these two robberies may not be connected to the other eight.  Police think the two weekend robberies, the ninth and tenth in the crime spree, were committed by copycats.

In Saturday's robbery attempts, police said the suspect descriptions were very vague, but they think suspects in these two crimes are new to the scene.

"We've got victims that are reporting a weapon that we didn't see described in a previous incident.  So that tells us that we might have someone new," said Raquel Foster, public information officer with the Fort Wayne Police Department.

Police said at 7:20 p.m. Saturday, a man living in the Colony Bay complex ran away when he was approached by a suspect. He said he was chased down and hit in the back two times with a long gun. Both suspects ran off empty-handed when a woman yelled that she was calling police.

Police said at 9:05 p.m. Saturday in Canterbury Green, a suspect pointed a gun at a resident and told him to get on the ground. The suspect got away with the victim's phone and cash.

Police said extra patrols would be added to apartment complexes that have been hit more than once and said they are working on some leads.    

Police encourage people to remain aware of their surroundings, and to report anything suspicious to Fort Wayne Police at (260) 427-1201 or Crime Stoppers at (800) 237-STOP [7867].