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It seems like the bearded bandit has struck again. The downtown Henrie's Dry Cleaners was robbed at gunpoint last night, but investigators have reason to suspect it might be a copycat.
The robbery happened just after 6:30 last night, right before Henrie's Dry Cleaning was supposed to close. The man wore a fake black beard, similar to a robber who's been targeting banks and credit unions throughout the valley.
In this incident, police say the suspect walked up to Henrie's drive-through window and demanded money from the female employee. He grabbed her arm and ordered her to open the register at gunpoint.
The suspect took the money then wanted the employee to open the safe. She told him there wasn't a safe, and he ran off.
"The description of this person from last night's incident, though, appears to differ from the description we've been getting from these other incidents throughout the valley," said Salt Lake City police Detective Dennis McGowan.
The victim last night described the suspect as 6 feet tall with a slim build. Police believe a shorter and stockier man is behind the other bearded robberies.
The real bearded bandit's latest hit happened last Friday at Bob's Magazine and Video in Salt Lake. Police say he got away with some cash and left in a tan Honda.
Prior to that, surveillance caught images of him robbing the Key Bank in South Jordan last month; and two weeks before that, a man matching the same description robbed the Beehive Credit Union on Foothill Drive. In November, the bearded man robbed a U.S. Bank in Holladay.
Because this suspect has hit 10 places around the valley, police think others may start to copy the crime, hoping investigators will think it's the same guy. "It's quite possible it is a copy-cat person who's reading and looking at the incidents in the news, and therefore doing it also," McGowan said.
Salt Lake police say they're working with other agencies to figure this out. If you have any information you think would be helpful to police, call the Salt Lake City Police Department at 801-799-3000.
E-mail: ngonzales@ksl.com
