Man Confesses to Robberies, one happened in Caledonia

Police have arrested a man who confessed to robbing four gas stations in Racine and and a liquor store in Caledonia.

Faheed Babwari, 25, of Racine, robbed Arbee's Liquor store, 4604 Douglas Avenue at 4:15 p.m. Feb. 3, Open Pantry, 3411 Spring St. on Jan. 30, High St. Foods, 704 High St. on Feb. 21, Xpress Food Mart, 2418 Douglas Ave., and Speedway, 2110 S. Greenbay Rd. on Feb. 24.

David Malison, an investigator with the Caledonia Police Department, said the man’s family positively identified Babwari in a surveillance video just days after the Arbee’s Liquor robbery. Police and family members asked for Babwari to come to the police station for an interview for weeks, but he failed to do so. Malison asked for a search warrant to be issued for Babwari’s arrest.

According to police, Babwari was taken into custody on Friday.

When the robbery took place, Ashok Patel, owner of the store, said his sister was working at the time Babwari came in and said he was planning a large party. What surprised Patel was that the man spoke Hindi.

“He said he was having a big party and he was shopping for a lot of things. He said, ‘Can you help me?’ So my sister got a trolley for him. He asked for more cases of beer and he wanted to send her near the cooler.”

The woman was near the cooler when the man went behind the register, opened it, took the cash and left the store.

“He didn’t have a weapon and he didn’t hurt us,” Patel said. “He just went behind the register and left.

“I’m really surprised. This store has been running for 40 years and they’ve never had anything happen like this.”

Babwari is suspected of taking an undisclosed amount of cash.

If anyone has any information, please call Investigator David Malison at (262) 835-4423.