Splash and Grab Suspect Caught

[TCD619]

Would you rather be stabbed/shot or have coffee thrown in your face?



A New Jersey man was arrested Tuesday afternoon, accused in a string of splash-and-grab convenience store robberies this month in three states.

Police in Voorhees Township, N.J., charged Kareem A. Hutt, 26, of the 300 block of Chestnut Ave., Oaklyn, with aggravated assault and robbery.

After he is questioned by police in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware, Hutt is expected to be sent to Camden County Correctional Facility on $50,000 cash bail, Voorhees Police Chief Keith Hummel said.

Police have been searching for at least three men in the holdups, in which thieves threw hot coffee in the faces of clerks before grabbing cash from registers.

Hummel said tips from the public helped police. Two men are still being sought.

The 19 robberies took place Feb. 7-Feb. 21 at 7-Elevens and Wawas in Philadelphia, Bucks and Delaware counties in Pennsylvania, Camden County, N.J., and New Castle County in Delaware.

Most of the robberies occurred between 11:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. Seven of the crimes occurred in New Jersey, 11 in Pennsylvania, and one in Delaware.

Wilmington police Master Sgt. Steven Elliott said Tuesday it was too early to know whether Hutt participated in the Feb. 10 holdup at the 7-Eleven at 1801 Pennsylvania Ave. in Wilmington.

Hummel said deputy U.S. marshals and Philadelphia police detectives closed in on Hutt at his home about 2:45 p.m. He said Voorhees police had issued a warrant for Hutt prior to Tuesday's arrest on offenses stemming from a late-night robbery Feb. 12 at a Wawa in Voorhees.

"This is good news," 7-Eleven spokeswoman Margaret Chabris said after learning of the arrest. "Offering a reward did help. We hope they round up everybody involved in this."

It was unknown if the tipster will receive the $10,000 reward offered by 7-Eleven and Wawa.