Photo by voteprime.

Police are investigating a string of seemingly unrelated robberies along the Eastern Avenue corridor and its side streets that have primarily affected transgender women.

Between June 10 and June 18, in the hours between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m., six robberies have occurred, Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy Lanier writes in a listserv email. “With the exception of one, there have been five robberies in which the victims are all transgender [women].

In each case the victim is approached by one or more suspects and demands are made for their purse. The descriptions of the subjects are not the same. There were guns displayed in at least two of the robberies and verbal threats were used in others. In the most recent robbery, on June 18th at 2:30 a.m., MPD arrested two juveniles and recovered the property that was stolen from the victim. At this time, we do not believe that these robberies are related as MPD has been provided varying descriptions by the victims.

MPD’s Sixth District is working with the department’s Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit and the Prince Georges County Police Department “to enhance patrols and investigate these crimes,” Lanier said.