Armed robbery unsettles Avondale area

Just after 11 p.m. Friday night an employee of Triangle Char and Bar was held at gunpoint and robbed as he walked to his car.

The Charleston Police Department is investigating.

But the incident on the corner of Tall Oak Avenue and Hickory Street has unsettled residents and business owners in the area, which has become a hub of activity in recent years.

"People should be very aware of stuff going on because we have all these restaurants, all these waitresses coming out late at night," Janie Mallard said. "Some of them don't leave until 4 a.m."

Mallard owns Alchemy Coffee in the strip of shops and restaurants across Magnolia Road from Triangle. She closes up at 5 p.m. every day, and said the robbery has made her shelve any thoughts about staying open later on a regular basis, though she still plans to hold art openings at night on the last Friday of every month.

With more than half a dozen bars and restaurants in the Avondale Point Business District (APBD), Mallard said the gunman was "pretty smart, because there are a lot of people leaving these places with cash on them at night."

Friday night's stick-up is not the first serious crime in the area. Ameris Bank was robbed in 2009, according to a bank employee, and Mallard said a nearby gas station was robbed only a few weeks ago.

Charleston Police Department Public Information Officer Charles Francis said via email that the department has increased patrols in the area following the incident.

Meanwhile the residents of Ashley Forrest, the neighborhood adjacent to the APBD, are nervous as well, and efforts are underway to re-energize a neighborhood committee in the wake of the robbery.

One of the major concerns is that the area behind the row of businesses on Magnolia Road, including a parking lot, is very dark once the sun goes down, according to Mallard and Elizabeth Whitworth.

Whitworths lives in Ashley Forrest and is the owner of Poe Studios in the part of the APDB that fronts Savannah Highway.

"I have the option to have a streetlight on my corner, but we didn't do it originally because a big deposit is required," Whitworth said. "I think we're going to reconsider."

"It's nice we're finally up and a real vital community now," Mallard said. "Unfortunately what comes with it is crime."