by Sue Ann Rybak

Eric Haynes, 22, of the 7800 block of Michener Street, was arrested Jan. 13 in connection with eight robberies in Northwest Philadelphia.

Captain Sekou Kinebrew, of the 14th Police District, called the arrest a good example of community and police collaboration.

“We did a good job of getting the word out so people in the community knew it was happening,” he said.

He noted that TV reporter Dann Cuellar, of Channel 6-abc, had conducted an interview with Philadelphia Police Lt. John Stanford, notifying the public of the armed robberies.

He said the eight robberies occurred between Dec. 6 through Dec. 28, 2015, at these locations: Dec. 6, Lowber and Upsal streets.; Dec. 8, Thouron Avenue and Phil Ellena Street; Dec. 9, Cedarbrook Road and Upsal Street; Dec. 17, Thouron Avenue and Phil Ellena Street; Dec. 18, 1300 E. Sedgwick Street; Dec. 20, 7200 Block of Woolston Avenue; Dec. 26, Cedarbrook Road and Upsal Street, and Dec. 28, 1200 Easton Road.

According to police records, all the robberies occurred in the morning between 6 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.

Kinebrew said the suspect approached people who were either waiting at a bus stop or walking to a bus stop at the time of the crime. In every case, the robber stole the victim's cell phone.

Police said the descriptions of the robber were all similar. He was described as a black male in his early twenties, between 5 feet, 8 inches, and 6 feet tall, with a medium build and usually wearing a black or blue hooded sweatshirt and armed with a handgun.

Kinebrew said thanks to “an outstanding member of the community” police were able to obtain surveillance video of the robber and his vehicle, a dark colored Hyundai Sonata.

According to police records, on Dec. 30, 2015, at 8:40 a.m., officers stopped a dark blue Hyundai Sonata on the 1600 block of East Mt. Airy Ave., which was in the same area the robberies had been occurring. Haynes had a 9 mm handgun in his vehicle at the time of the stop. Police arrested him for weapons violations because he did not have a permit to carry a firearm.

After further investigation, search warrants were issued on his vehicle, home and cell phone. Police found several cell phone cases and other items linked to the robberies. Craigslist postings of the stolen phones were also obtained, which were connected to Haynes' phone number.

According to police records, he is charged with eight robberies and related offenses.

Haynes is currently being held at Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility.