Two men went on a spree of robberies at Latino-owned shops in Philadelphia, feds say

Two men were indicted in connection with multiple armed robberies of Latino-owned businesses in Pennsylvania in late 2021, federal prosecutors said.

The two men, Omar White-Davis and Acia Moore, were accused of stealing around $3,100 total during six incidents between Nov. 21 and Dec. 6, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The FBI arrested the two men in early February.

Attorneys representing each of the men did not immediately respond to requests for comment from McClatchy News.

According to affidavits filed alongside criminal complaints against the two men, they were specifically accused of committing Hobbs Act robberies, or robberies of businesses that affect interstate commerce. The men committed some of the robberies together and some individually, prosecutors said.

The Philadelphia businesses robbed included Café Tinto, Hernandez Food and Deli Market, the D and Rockland Grocery Store, Ariel Grocery, and the Los Patrones Food Market, according to the White-Davis affidavit. Those businesses sell food, beverages, and other items manufactured outside Philadelphia and shipped to the city from outside Pennsylvania, making them all businesses that are engaged in interstate commerce, or Hobbs Act-protected businesses.

If convicted, each of the men face life in prison, five years of supervised release and fines of over $1 million, the release said.