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Two lounges robbed by man in bear mask

• Police are investigating two Saturday robberies in which one of the armed bandits wore a bear mask.

Joshua Brown

ALBANY — At least two of a string of armed robberies committed this past weekend were related, police said Monday.

Albany Police Department spokeswoman Phyllis Banks-Whitley said three men — two wearing black ski masks and one in a “fuzzy bear mask” — were responsible for armed robberies on the 1900 block of West Lakeridge Drive and the 100 block of South Harding Street early Saturday morning.

There were at least four armed robberies in Albany over the weekend, but only two involved a robber in a bear mask.

According to incident reports, Kimberly Apperson, 42, left the Oglethorpe Lounge, where she tended bar, around 1 a.m. Sunday and noticed a vehicle following her. When she thought she had lost the vehicle, she went to her home on Lakeridge Drive.

As she approached her back door, she heard someone tell her to give him “the money from the club,” the incident report states. Apperson told police she turned around to see three armed men in masks, one of which was a bear mask. The men took her purse and left once a dog began barking, according to the report.

The four victims from the Harding Street incident, which occurred about 3:30 a.m. Sunday, told police that three men armed with pistols and wearing masks, one of which was in a bear mask, approached them outside Yesterday’s Lounge and told them to put their hands on their vehicle and not turn around.

Apperson’s report only states that the bandits made off with the purse, which was valued at about $20, and does not indicate any of the purse’s contents. The report from the Harding Street incident indicates the men made off with $201 in cash and several insurance cards and wallets.

The men were described by one of the Harding Street incident victims as driving a black sports-utility vehicle, possibly a Ford Expedition.

Banks-Whitley said that if anyone with any information regarding the crimes can call CrimeStoppers at (229) 436-TIPS or 911 in an emergency.

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