Germantown man charged in connection with citywide armed-robbery spree

Philadelphia Police arrested a 22-year-old Germantown man and charged him in connection with a series of six robberies occurring across the city between Center City, East Germantown, Fern Rock and Fairhill.

The robberies with which suspect Craig Sammons, of the 6300 block of Germantown Ave., is charged occurred between Oct. 22 and Nov. 12.

Investigators found their way to Sammons through investigating a trio of gunpoint robberies at the 7-Eleven location at 1 Franklin Town Boulevard, near 18th and Callowhill sts.

According to police, surveillance footage led them to believe all three were committed by the same robber who had “visible tattoos on his right hand and was wearing a black colored Puma hooded sweatshirt with the Puma logo embroidered on the left chest.”

On Friday, officers with the 9th Police District reportedly saw a man matching that description down to the sweatshirt and hand tattoos so they stopped him at Broad and Arch sts.

That’s when they made the alleged connection between the convenience store robbery and similar crimes at a Lion grocery store (Oct. 22; 230 W. Wensley St.), East Germantown’s Woodlawn Deli (Nov. 7; 5637 Chew Ave.) and a Metro PCS location (Nov. 12; 5612 N. Broad St.)

Police said a search warrant executed at Sammons’ Germantown Avenue residence turned up a sweatshirt allegedly worn in a robbery and one live 9MM round.

Bail for Sammons — whose 2011 negotiated guilty plea to theft, conspiracy and fleeing an officer charges drew a 3-to-23-month sentence, according to court records — was set at $250,000.