Armed man steals two bottles of vodka from Germantown Ave. state store

Philadelphia Police have released surveillance footage of a Thursday night incident during which an unknown man left the state wine and spirits store at 5101 Germantown Ave. without paying for two bottles of vodka and flashed a black handgun when confronted.

According to police, “When the employee confronted the suspect he lifted his shirt showing the employee a handgun, the employee backed away from the suspect and he fled the store on foot east through the parking lot.” The incident occurred at 8:15 p.m. Thursday. Nobody was injured in what’s considered an armed robbery.

The suspect is described as a 5-foot-8, 160-pound black male in his late 20s with a dark complexion, husky build and scruffy beard and mustache. He was wearing blue jeans, blue and white shirt, green khaki jacket and white sneakers at the time. The store is located near the intersection of Germantown Ave. and Wister St.

Police ask anyone with information about the case to contact East Detective Division at 215-686-3353/54 and to call 911 instead of confronting him.