Businesses hit by string of robberies

When a man with a sawed-off shotgun ordered Estefania into the back of Sarni Cleaners on Beacon Hill one evening earlier this month, the 21-year-old employee was wary but remained calm.

She sensed he was an experienced criminal, because he told her and a 63-year-old seamstress to lie on the floor away from the telephone and out of the line of vision of passers by on the busy stretch of Cambridge Street. He then grabbed the money from the cash register and walked out.

"He just said, 'Lay down on the floor,' " said Estefania, who works at the cleaners to save money for college and who declined to give her last name because she fears for her safety. "When he left, I started crying."

The robbery was one of 16 committed at local businesses between April 17 and June 26 that authorities believe are probably related because of similar methods and descriptions of the suspect. Seven were committed in the South End and Back Bay and eight occurred in Beacon Hill and downtown. One robbery occurred in Roxbury.

Weapons used in the robberies have included knives, handguns, and shotguns. Police are also investigating whether a second suspect may be involved.

Businesses targeted have included many chain stores, including Papyrus, the Vitamin Shoppe, Yankee Candle, and Lindt Chocolate. The most recent holdup occurred on Federal Street at 6 p.m. Tuesday when a suspect ordered employees at the Copley Flair Gift Shop to open the registers and sit on the floor of a back room.

The robberies appear to be escalating, with five reported since June 20. But police say that the robber has been getting sloppy. During a noontime robbery at Yankee Candle at Faneuil Hall on June 24, images of the suspect's face were captured on a surveillance camera.

Sergeant Detective Richard Ross, who is supervising the investigation of the downtown robberies, said he has extra officers patrolling in the evening, when stores close. He said he is hoping that if the robber strikes again, officers will be nearby.

Ross said the robber's tendency to force employees to lie on the floor has given him an advantage in eluding police because petrified victims may wait a few minutes to gather their wits before calling police. By then, the robber has left, and the witnesses don't know which direction he fled or how.

"He literally disappears off the planet," Ross said in an interview yesterday. "He's beating us right now. . . . He's very professional, very calm."

Ross said investigators have several theories about how the robber gets away so quickly, including that he could be using a taxi.

The pattern is unusual, Ross said, because of the number of robberies and because the robber makes his victims lie on the floor. "They are so emotionally traumatized," Ross said. "They're waiting for a gun to go off or to get molested."

For Estefania, the robbery has made her already difficult work schedule even more of a challenge. "I work with the door locked all day," she said of her first day back.

Police ask anyone with information to text-message TIP to Crime (27463) or call an anonymous tip line at 800-494-TIPS.

Suzanne Smalley can be reached at ssmalley@globe.com.