‘Starbucks’ Victim: 'I Was Scared'

The man who allegedly robbed a woman at gunpoint in the parking lot of Starbucks in Wayne will have a hearing in the Court of Common Pleas next month.

Hassan Grimes is facing charges of robbery and theft after allegedly stealing jewelry and credit cards of a Berwyn woman on the morning of May 5.

The victim testified in district court Tuesday that as she was about to put her one year old daughter into her car when a man approached her from behind, holding her arms and putting a gun to her face.

“Do not turn around. I have a gun and will shoot you,” the victim testified that the man who robbed her said.

She said she only saw part of his face and described him as an African American with facial hair. She could not identify Grimes as the perpetrator.

But Grimes admitted to Radnor police that he did use her credit cards at a Target, Victoria’s Secret, Game Stop and Starbucks in Springfield, about 12 miles away.

Detective Joseph Paolantonio said that the first credit card charge was made at 10:25 a.m. at Target. Police and the victim believe the crime took place at about 9:59 a.m.

Paolantonio said that Grimes told police that he got the credit cards from a person in Philadelphia at about 9 a.m. that morning.

The victim said that the robbery probably took less than one minute.

She said she was told to take off her rings and her watch; her purse in the front seat of her car was taken, too.

She said the robber also slid his hands down the back of her pants before taking off over a fence. She said she hear a car start over the fence on Midland Avenue about 15 seconds later.

Her car was parked in the back of the parking lot directly behind the Beer Yard building. After the robbery she drove to the front of the lot and went back into Starbucks, telling them to call the police.

The victim testified that what she felt and saw being held up to her face was a gun. She said the robber said, “I will shoot, I will shoot.”

“I was really scared,” she said.

The victim testified that if she did not give in to the robber’s demands, “I think he would have either beat me up or he would have shot me.”

She said her daughter was held up between her body and the car seat during the robbery.

Both Grimes and the victim had family members in the district court Tuesday. Grimes’ wife and father were in attendance.

Grimes has been charged with Robbery, Recklessly Endangering Another Person, Terroristic Threats, Unlawful Restraint, Indecent Assault, Theft, Retail Theft, Receiving Stolen Property, Forgery, Access Device Fraud and Identity Theft.

The charges were bound to the Court of Common Pleas by Judge John Tuten, who scheduled a hearing for June 23.

Bail for Grimes remains at 10 percent of $150,000.