correction
A previous version of this article reported that authorities alleged Kamanye Williams was the manager on duty at the Chinatown Walgreens during at least four robberies. They alleged Michael Leroy Robinson was the manager on duty during those robberies. The article has been corrected.
The manager of a Chinatown Walgreens that has been a frequent target for robbery since last summer helped orchestrate at least four armed holdups at his own store, federal authorities said Tuesday as they outlined a scheme that netted thousands of dollars and sparked fear about crime in the once vibrant downtown neighborhood.
Prosecutors charged the manager, Michael Leroy Robinson, and his nephew in connection with robberies that authorities said came to a violent end Sunday, when a security guard hired by Walgreens shot and critically wounded a third suspect in the conspiracy.
The charging documents specifically detail four robberies that authorities attributed to the group, though they alleged that Robinson was the manager on duty for at least four more, including one in which a suspect hit him in the head with a gun.
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The man who was shot on Sunday, Kamanye Williams, 24, remained hospitalized Tuesday and has not made an initial appearance in court. According to police, he forced a guard and an employee to a backroom, took the guard’s gun and stole more than $4,200. Police said another guard then shot Williams.
Police said Monday that Williams had been charged with seven robberies of the pharmacy, as well as assault with a dangerous weapon, kidnapping, assault on a police officer and carrying an unlicensed firearm. But D.C. Police Chief Pamela A. Smith told reporters more arrests were expected, as they had been zeroing in on Williams and other suspects when the shooting occurred.
On Tuesday, authorities said they arrested the manager, 33-year-old Robinson, and his nephew, Gianni Robinson, 26, and charged them each with conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce by robbery. Attorneys for the suspects were not listed in court documents.
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Smith, in prepared remarks, said the robberies at the Walgreens “disrupted a business that is a lifeline to its customers.” She said police and FBI agents “dismantled a conspiracy that invoked fear in the community and repeatedly took away this community’s sense of safety.”
U.S. Attorney for the District Matthew M. Graves said the investigation included D.C. police and the FBI’s Violent Crimes Task Force. The case “showed that incidents at one store played an out-sized role” in shaping the overall crime picture of the neighborhood.
“This case also illustrates how a relatively few number of individuals can be responsible for a disproportionate amount of violence and criminal activity in a neighborhood,” Graves said in a statement, noting that “an inside actor [was] helping to orchestrate the entire robbery conspiracy.”
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David Sundberg, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington Field office, said the alleged robbers “may have targeted this one business, but their actions affect the whole neighborhood.”
A spokesman for Walgreens said the manager is no longer employed by the company, which is cooperating with the investigation. The spokesman declined further comment.
Police said Monday that the spate of robberies at the Walgreens started July 18 and continued into the winter, with one occurring each month with the exception of October.
Officials said police and the FBI executed search warrants Monday night in D.C. and Maryland. They said four firearms and a bullet proof vest were seized.
According to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in D.C., Williams made contact with Michael Robinson around the time of those robberies, in which more than $15,000 was stolen.
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“In these cases, Williams made phone calls to Michael and Gianni Robinson before and after the robberies were committed,” Smith said in her statement. She said there is video showing Williams and Gianni Robinson together before a robbery in January. During some of the robberies, Williams went into a backroom at the store and “waited for an employee to enter the room,” Smith said.
The court affidavit alleges that Michael Robinson conspired with Williams to rob the Walgreens on Nov. 10, Dec. 4, Jan. 9 and Feb 11.
In the Nov. 10 robbery, the affidavit alleges that Williams used a white Mercedes linked to Michael Robinson, and later used a private PIN code to enter the manager’s office. The affidavit said cellphone records are consistent with the two traveling “together to the area and leaving together.” Surveillance video shows the manager renting a Lyft scooter that was also used in the robbery.
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In a Dec. 4, the affidavit alleges Williams took a security guard’s gun before forcing him to the back office and telling him: “You know what the drill is. Give it all! I want all of it!”
The final robbery occurred Sunday. The affidavit said that Williams and Gianni Robinson traveled to the store together, and that the manager, Michael Robinson, was on duty.
The affidavit said it appears the robbery was timed to when a security guard was escorting Michael Robinson to the back office with a box of cash. The affidavit said Williams pressed a gun to the guard and threatened to kill him. Once inside the office, authorities allege, Williams took the guard’s gun and the cash.
But as Williams tried to leave, the affidavit said another security guard entered and fired one shot at Williams, striking him in the chest.
The affidavit said Michael Robinson immediately called his nephew Gianni Robinson, and the two continued to call each other as Williams was rushed to a hospital. The affidavit said that Gianni Robinson “then traveled to the hospital where [Williams] was being treated.”
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