Second Portales robbery reported

A knife-wielding robber who held up a Portales real estate office a few weeks ago may have struck again Thursday, according to Portales Police.

Police received a report of an armed robbery at Quality Sales, 612 E. Second St., Portales, shortly before 2 p.m. Thursday.

According to police, a female with a kitchen knife entered the store and demanded cash from an employee who was in the store alone at the time. Police said the suspect got away with an as-yet undetermined amount of cash.

“I can tell you it was a Hispanic female exactly matching the description of the robbery three weeks ago and exactly matching the method of operation of that robbery three weeks ago,” Portales Police Capt. Lonnie Berry said. “We’re probably looking at the same person here.”

The suspect is described by police as 5 feet, 6 inches tall, in her mid-30s with dark hair and dark complexion. She was wearing a white shirt with a torn collar and dark jeans.

Berry said police received a vehicle description in this robbery, which they didn’t have in the real estate office robbery. He said the suspect apparently left in an older model white four-door car that was beat-up looking.

“We’re beating the bushes for that car,” Berry said.

Berry noted that robberies occurred mid-afternoon on the same day of the week.

Berry said police are checking with Clovis police and other departments to see if they’ve had similar robberies.

Crimestoppers

Berry said anyone with information about the crime can call the Crimestoppers hotline, 356-8100, and remain anonymous or call Portales police at 356-4404.