RICHMOND, Va. -- Two robberies occurred in the city tonight within ten minutes of each other -- one on Kinsley Avenue and the other on Clarkson Road (about a mile apart).
Both robberies were at gunpoint.
Christian Rivas and his passenger had just dropped off a friend when he was about to start this van and head home after a day of laying sheetrock.
"I was in driver’s seat… a car pulled up about a house and a half in front of us. At first I thought the guy lived there because I didn't see anything but then he was walking towards us," said Rivas
In an instant Rivas says he had a gun in his face.
"He pointed the gun at me and I said ‘ok man, calm down,’” Rivas explained.
Rivas emptied his pockets and gave the robber $20.
He says then the gunman and accomplice demanded money from his friend -- a man who had just cashed a couple of paychecks at a local convenience store. He tells CBS 6 that the thieves swiped a total of $3,200.
The cash was supposed to go to rent and his family. Rivas gives police the description of a gold getaway car -- possibly a Buick or Mercury Sable. He also described the thieves for police.
The armed robber is 6’2” and fat -- about 250 lbs. according to Rivas. He had on a saggy white shirt and grey sweatpants.
Sources say that description is different from a robbery that happened on Clarkson Road, ten minutes before the Kinsley Avenue robbery.
Police sources telling us that the two armed robberies happening minutes apart do not appear to be connected, but of course things could change as their investigation continues. None of the three victims were hurt.
