Benicia Police Searching for Robbery Suspect

by Bay City News

Police are searching for a man suspected of stealing a car and robbing a woman at gunpoint in Benicia Thursday afternoon, a police lieutenant said.

Benicia police received a call at 2:15 p.m. of an armed robbery inside an apartment in the 900 block of Southampton Road, Lt. Frank Hartig said.

The 52-year-old woman told police a man pointed a semi-automatic handgun at her, struck her in the head with the weapon, and took her purse and its contents, Hartig said.

The woman said the purse contained money, a cell phone, and jewelry.

She declined medical treatment at the scene.

The suspect fled with a second female, who knew the victim, in a red Ford Taurus, Hartig said.

Shortly after this incident, police received a second call from a 30-year-old woman who reported her car had been stolen from the area of West 2nd Street and Raymond Drive, Hartig said. The woman, who was a friend of the first victim, described her stolen car as a red 2004 Ford Taurus.

The suspect in the car theft is the former boyfriend of the second victim. The victim said she was forced out of her car at gunpoint, Hartig said.

The suspect has been identified as Duncan Phillips, 29, and the stolen vehicle's license plate number is 6TKL112, Hartig said.

Anyone with information regarding the two incidents is encouraged to call Lt. Hartig at (707) 746-4259.

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