Akron police are asking the public for help tracking down a man who robbed the Family Dollar at 970 Copley Road at gunpoint on Oct. 20. Investigators describe the suspect as a Black male between 20 and 30 years old, standing about 6 feet tall with a thin build, and they warn he may still be armed.
The department shared the appeal in a Facebook post, asking anyone who recognizes the man from the description to come forward. Akron police explicitly cautioned residents not to approach him under any circumstances, citing the possibility that he is armed.
Anyone with information about the robbery is urged to come forward. People should use official channels rather than post tips or personal information in the Facebook comments.
A Store With a History of Robberies
This isn't the first time the Copley Road Family Dollar has made headlines for a robbery. Back in 2019, an armed man hid inside the store's stockroom just before closing time and then robbed employees at gunpoint, according to cleveland.com. The 2019 case involved another armed robbery at the store.
In a separate incident on Copley Road, police said they believed a man who robbed a Family Dollar also struck a nearby Walgreens about 15 minutes later, as reported by News 5 Cleveland. The report also said the Walgreens robbery occurred about 15 minutes later.
Pattern of Dollar-Store Holdups Across Akron
Family Dollar locations around Akron have faced a string of armed robberies in recent years. Cleveland 19 reported a robbery at a Family Dollar on South Main Street, where a gunman demanded money from the counter and left with cash and a clerk's cell phone, per the station's coverage, which can be found in its report on that incident.
Back in 2022, Akron police believed a single masked robber was behind a spree targeting neighborhood discount and drug stores across the city, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. That investigation centered on alleged robberies at neighborhood discount and drug stores across the city. For now, investigators are focused on identifying the specific suspect from the Oct. 20 robbery and are relying on the public's eyes to help close the gap.
