A Sept. 5 trial date has been set for the so-called incense bandit of Hillcrest, an alleged serial robber who is accused of filching everything from an $8.95 package of incense to $1,000 cash from a parking attendant – all in or around Hillcrest.
“You guys are too expensive for me,” the alleged robber is said to have proclaimed before robbing Cathedral at 435 University, the store with the $8.95-per box incense.
Charles Shipman, 48 is accused of six other robberies, none of them involving incense, but the name stuck. Interestingly, he may have held up two victims twice each. He is accused of getting $1,000 from Fifth Avenue Books, and then three weeks later returning and robbing the same victim at the store for $700.
The other twice-hit victim was reportedly robbed of $150 while working as a parking attendant at Arrivederci in Hillcrest. Two months later, the victim said he was robbed by the same man – allegedly Shipman; this time for $50.
