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Same Robbers May Be Behind Shootings At 2 St. Pete Stores

News Channel 8 photo by RUGENE MOORE

Friends and family members of Indravadan M. Patel gather outside the Suhani Food Store in St. Petersburg.

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By CHIP OSOWSKI | News Channel 8
and JOSH POLTILOVE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 4, 2008

Updated: 12/04/2008 02:30 pm

Investigators say the same men may have shot two brothers in separate store robberies this week.

"We're operating on the theory that it's the same two individuals who were involved in the first one," Maj. Mike Puetz said of the second robbery, which occurred Wednesday night.

"That's based on a number of similarities," Puetz said. In both holdups, the culprits were "masked up," and one watched the door while the other approached the clerk.

In Wednesday's robbery at Suhani Food Store, 2539 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. N., owner Indravadan Patel, 46, was shot in the abdomen as the shooter climbed over the counter, Puetz said. The thieves got roughly $250, and Patel is in critical condition at Bayfront Medical Center, authorities said.

Indravadan's brother, Narendra Patel, 53, was shot Monday at his store, the Star Deli Food Store, 2451 Fifth Ave. N., even though he had given gave the thieves what was in the register, roughly $40, Puetz said.

Patel, who was shot in the arm, hand and foot, according to police and family.

He has been released from Bayfront, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The wives and daughters of the two brothers are telling them to get out of the business, a family member said this morning.

There's just one problem. It's the only line of work they know, said Saurabh Patel, their 27-year-old nephew. "What are they going to do? Everybody's got to work."

After the shooting Wednesday, the families were dumbstruck.

"This is just becoming too much of a coincidence," said Jay Patel, son of Narendra Patel. "And I hope the city of St. Pete police department catches these bad guys before anyone else gets injured."

Monday marked the second time in six years Narendra Patel has been shot. He was shot in the right lung during a robbery In 2002, his son said. Two men were convicted of the crime.

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