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Shoppers, employees robbed at gunpoint inside Arboretum Gap

By Alexa Ashwell
By Alexa Ashwell

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Customers out taking care of their holiday shopping were robbed inside a clothing store in south Charlotte Saturday night, according to a police report.

The customers inside a Gap store at the Arboretum shopping center described the terrifying moments after masked gunmen burst into the store.

The report said that a group of robbers armed with guns stormed into the store in the Arboretum Shopping Center on Providence Road just before 8 p.m. Saturday.

"I believe there were four of them. They had masks on and guns and told everyone to get down on the floor," said a young mother who was at the front of the store, when one gunman came in and told her to get on the ground.

“He immediately grabbed my purse.  I was on the floor so he started dragging me to the back of the store where the fitting room is,” the woman said.

She said after he dragged her to the back of the store, he left briefly, and she tried to run and hide, but he found her and dragged her to a fitting room where other customers were already on the floor.

“He threw me on top of an employee and I just started praying real loud for God's protection,” she said.

“He told me to shut up, ain't nothing going to happen to you,” she said.

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The second customer, a man who was there with his wife, said he was near the back of the store when the gunmen burst in.

“I saw the person dressed in all black rushing toward me and the other ladies in the back of the store,” he said.

“It was just, ‘Get down on the ground, get down on the ground. Nobody's going to get hurt, get down on the ground, get down on the ground.'”

Both victims said the men robbed them, but appeared to be targeting the store’s safe, and demanded a manager who could open it.

They said the gunmen appeared to be young probably teenagers and that they were yelling “30 seconds! 30 seconds!” before they left the store with the victims still lying on the floor.

“Officers were just around the corner and they were there in probably less than a minute,” said Captain Todd Lontz, who oversees CMPD’s South Division.

The thieves then robbed customers and store employees before taking off in a vehicle.

Lontz said that by the time officers arrived the suspects had left.

One of the victims said he was able to track his wife’s stolen cellphone to a car parked at an apartment complex several miles away, and that police said the car had been stolen.

Lontz said the brazen attack is the first of its kind in several years, and they already have officers patrolling the shopping center regularly, so this won’t change their approach for the time being.

“This is one incident and hopefully we'll follow up on the leads we have and arrest the people involved,” Lontz said.

“I’m very shocked,” said Christine Opela, who shops at the shopping center. “This is not usually what happens here. It seems like an isolated incident -- but three people? It was obviously planned out.  Apparently better security is necessary.”

Police said the robbers all appear to be in their early 20s and are between 5 feet 9 inches and 6 feet tall with medium builds.

“Because of the amount of business and in anticipation of the busy shopping season, we’ve had extra patrols out there as well,” Lontz said.

Anyone with information on this crime is asked to contact police.

Gap Statement

"The safety of our employees and customers is always our top priority, and we are continuing to work closely with local law enforcement on their investigation.  We are grateful for the actions of our store employees, who followed safety procedures and stayed calm in the face of a very frightening experience." - Debbie Felix, Gap Inc. spokesperson

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