A series of armed robberies at the Walgreens in D.C.'s Chinatown area was the result of an elaborate inside job, according to allegations in court documents released Tuesday. Three suspects, including a store manager, have been arrested.
A major break in the case came Sunday, after a security officer at the Northwest D.C. store shot and wounded a man who was allegedly trying to rob the manager’s office.
“We’ve dismantled a conspiracy that evoked fear in the community and repeatedly took away the community's sense of safety. It’s another example of a small group of suspects returning over and over,” D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith said.
There have been eight similar armed robberies at the Chinatown Walgreens since July 2023. The suspect who was shot Sunday, Kamanye Williams, is now facing federal charges in seven of them.
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According to the court documents, a security camera image from the Chinatown Walgreens shows Williams during a robbery at the same store last November.
“Looking at his phone when entering a code into the manager’s office,” Matthew Graves, U.S. Attorney for D.C., said when describing the footage.
Prosecutors say Williams had repeated contact with a store manager named Michael Robinson and his nephew, Gianni Robinson, on the day of several armed robberies at the Walgreens. Both are now in custody.
“To make our community safer, whether we are looking at traditional armed robberies or an inside job, we will continue to work together to bring violent criminals to justice and protect the nation’s capital,” Dave Sundberg, assistant director of the FBI's Washington Field Office, said.
Charging documents indicate that an investigation by D.C. police and FBI was already underway but sped up after data from Williams' cellphone was recovered.
