A rash of armed street robberies in and around Savin Hill hit a new low last week when a father walking with two small children was robbed by two teenage suspects in the parking lot of a strip mall on Dorchester Avenue. One of the teens flashed a handgun and demanded that the man give up his cell phone and cash.

The incident took place just before 6 p.m. last Tuesday (Nov. 22) in the parking lot of a strip mall that runs along 1156 Dorchester Ave., just steps from the popular Boys and Girls Club on Deer Street. The victim was walking back to his car in the parking lot, escorting his two kids, ages 9 and 4.

On Monday, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Dorchester — which was closed last Thursday and Friday for the Thanksgiving holiday— circulated a “safety notice” to warn parents and guardians about an “increase in crime” nearby. The flyer urges people to “use caution while walking to and from and when picking up and/or dropping off children.”

Captain Richard Sexton, commander at Boston Police district C-11, has ordered more patrols in the area, including a bicycle unit that has been positioned in Savin Hill this week. Sexton says that street robberies in November are actually down slightly in C-11 over last month’s numbers, when the number of incidents spiked to 45. There were 30 in November across the district, as of Tuesday morning.

Sexton said that last Tuesday’s street robbery on Dorchester Ave. may be related to a second armed robbery that took place on nearby Downer Ave. on Jones Hill around 7:30 p.m. that same evening. The descriptions of the suspects in both incidents were virtually the same: black males, ages 16-18, both about 5’8” in height and wearing hooded sweatshirts. One of them flashed a sliver handgun.

The Columbia-Savin Hill Civic Association announced this week that its December meeting— set for Monday evening, Dec. 5— will be focused on crime and public safety, with representatives from Boston, Transit and State Police in attendance. The meeting will start at 7p.m. the Cristo Rey School, 100 Savin Hill Avenue.

Boston Police had already stepped up patrols in the vicinity of Savin Hill after a series of similar street robberies in recent weeks. On Nov. 4, a woman told police she was robbed in an Auckland St. parking lot by a man who accosted her at gun point and demanded “give me everything you got.” A Boston Police report said that the incident happened at about 6:05 p.m. on a Friday evening.

In another incident, a man was robbed on Mayfield Street near Dorchester Ave. on Oct. 18. More recently, two Boston Police officers patrolling Savin Hill as part of a response to the robberies were attacked by two men who were later arrested after an intense manhunt on Nov. 1. One of them had a gun, according to police.