Store, restaurant targeted by armed robbers

Charleston and Summerville police are investigating a pair of armed robberies that happened about the same time early Wednesday.

Summerville police say a man with a bandanna and a single-barrel shotgun robbed the Taco Bell at 981 Bacons Bridge Road about 1:15 a.m.

A Taco Bell manager told police he was emptying trash into a trash bin when he noticed a “black mass” sitting in between the bin and the grease trap. The figure jumped up and the manager quickly realized it was a man with a shotgun, according to an incident report.

The suspect ordered the employee to put his hands up and to get back in the store. The pair went into the office, where the manager opened the safe and gave the suspect a bag full of money.

Another employee told police he was in the back washing dishes when he saw the manager with his hands up. He initially thought it was a joke until he heard the suspect’s unfamiliar voice and saw the man holding the vintage single-barrel shotgun with a wooden stock.

The suspect ran out of the store. He is described as a black male, about 20 to 25 years old, between 5 feet 7 inches and 5 feet 10 inches tall and about 160 pounds. He wore a skullcap and a blue bandanna over his mouth. He was possibly wearing dark coveralls.

Charleston police also are looking for a man who robbed a Kangaroo convenience store at 2572 Ashley River Road at 1:13 a.m.

Employees told officers that a black male, about 6 feet 2 inches tall with a thin build, robbed the store with a handgun. That man wore a black T-shirt and black pants, according to Charles Francis, department spokesman.

Detectives haven’t determined if either robbery is connected to other recent robberies, authorities said.

Anyone with information about either robbery is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 554-1111.

Reach Andy Paras at 937-5589, on Twitter at @AndyParas or on Facebook.