Mt Airy Armed Robber Convicted On Federal Charges

MT. AIRY, PHILADELPHIA — A jury convicted a man on federal robbery charges Friday for robbing a Mt. Airy store in 2017

Acting United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams said Lawrence Laws, 28, of Philadelphia, was convicted today at trial of Hobbs Act robbery (robbery which interferes with interstate commerce) and using, carrying and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence arising from his participation in a robbery of a business in the Mt. Airy section of Philadelphia.

At about 1 a.m. in February 2017 Laws and two others laid in wait for the owner of the Mermaid Bar on Germantown Avenue as he was closing the bar for the night along with his bartender.

The owner of the bar approached his vehicle and, after realizing that one of the defendants was inside waiting for him, both he and the bartender took off running.

The defendants caught up to the owner and bartender and ordered them onto the ground and then back to the bar at gunpoint, where they stole a firearm, cash from the register and from a safe in the basement, cartons of cigarettes and a cell phone.

The defendants also took the owner’s debit card and PIN number, which they used to make multiple cash withdrawals from the bank ATM across the street before fleeing the scene together.

Laws' co-defendants both previously pleaded guilty to charges related to this incident.