NORFOLK, Va. — Norfolk police are investigating what they’re calling a robbery on the Tide light rail system.
Tide riders in Norfolk are reacting to the recent crime.
“With this incident happening, I think the city should pay attention to it," said Tide rider David Whitfield.
Monday, Norfolk Police shared a five-second video clip of who they’re calling a suspect in a robbery that happened on December 27 near the Ingleside Station light rail stop.
Images show the man holding what appears to be a metal object.
While police released the video and images on Monday, the images were already being shared on social media.
“We don’t know how these images got where they are now," HRT Communications Manager Thomas Becher said.
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HRT operates the Tide. Becher confirmed the images on social media are legitimate.
He tells News 3 the pictures came from security video of the incident which was discovered Friday while looking through video for an unrelated incident.
They were only shared with police and HRT’s private security contractor.
News 3 asked why.
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“We typically just work with our law enforcement partners and let them handle the matter," Becher explained.
When asked why, he said that's protocol.
"Beyond that, I don’t have any answers," Becher said.
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"You don’t feel like the protocol needs to change given that this went to police but it didn’t go out to the public" News 3 asked. "That’s not for me to say right now," Becher responded. "Obviously, we’ll continue to evaluate any security procedure we need to and for now we’re going to do what’s best to keep things safe."
Whitfield said there needs to be transparency.
“It should be clear to the community what’s going on with the public transportation.”
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When asked about his message to people who feel HRT isn't be transparent enough he emphasized HRT followed protocol.
Norfolk police are anyone with information about the incident to call the Norfolk Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP or the Violent Crimes Office at 757-664-7032.
HRT encourages passengers to call 911 if they see suspicious behavior while on transit.
