It was a crime that shocked Old Town, an armed robbery that rattled a neighborhood where most of the illicit activity is limited to petty theft from unlocked vehicles. Three masked men walked into the Old Town Safeway one November evening heavily armed and demanding cash, shooting one of the patrons before jumping into a getaway car driven by a fourth man. Neighbors here became fearful for their own safety and concerned about the staff of a grocery store that many people consider an extenuation of their own family.

"We have officers checking the business frequently and completing paperwork in the parking lot when able," wrote Lieutenant Don Hayes in an email to neighbors in the frenzied days after the robbery. "You will see a uniform presence in the area to help alleviate the perception that it is unsafe to come out after dark."

The big break in the case came when investigators realized that one of the men used his own personal Safeway Clubcard at the register a few days before the heist, a blunder that led to his cell phone records tracking his whereabouts and a search warrant uncovering a weapon used in the robbery. Now the Safeway Four have been sentenced in federal court for conducting a crime spree that stretched from Woodbridge to Old Town.

"It's a complicated case," said Crystal Nosal, spokeswoman for the Alexandria Police Department. "They were arrested back in December, but the U.S. Attorney's Office wouldn't let us put out any information about this for varying reasons."

COURT RECORDS show three of the men had extensive criminal backgrounds. They were sentenced to 35 years each. Another one of the men, a 26-year-old from Capital Heights, was given only 12 years after friends and family members pleaded with the court to issue a reduced sentence. They say Ray Allen Dicks got caught up with a bad crowd though his cousin, Calvin Leon Lewis.

"Ray just needs more people to believe in him so he can become the person I know he can be," wrote family friend Tracy Aukward in a letter to the court. "I can tell you without a doubt he is incredibly remorseful."

The story begins last summer, when Dicks and Lewis met Artemus Riley — a man with an extensive criminal background and plans for the future. By November, Riley's friend Louis Jackson joined the conspiracy. Their crime spree began on Nov. 14, when the group organized a heist at U.S. 1 Tobacco on Jefferson Davis Highway in Woodbridge. During that armed robbery, an employee of the store was shot in the head. The men made off with about $5,000 in cash and cigarettes. And because the men were wearing masks, investigators didn't have much to go on.

That's when the conspiracy moved to Old Town.

Riley worked at the Old Town Safeway back in the 1980s, and he knew the area well. Two days after the Woodbridge robbery, the four men met in the District and travelled to Alexandria to conduct a surveillance operation. Riley gave directions to the store, and Lewis drove. Surveillance footage from the grocery store shows Dicks and Jackson entered the store together, followed by Lewis and Riley.

"They walked up and down the aisles, noting exits, the location of cameras, how many individuals were in the store, and where the manager's office that contained the vault was located," wrote U.S. Attorney Dana Boente. "After they returned to the car, the men agreed that the Safeway was a good target and decided to commit the robbery the next day."

THE NEXT DAY, the four men returned to Old Town to conduct the heist. Lewis, Dicks and Jackson entered the store masked and armed while Riley waited outside in the getaway car. Dicks and Jackson had handguns, and Lewis was carrying a sawed-off long gun. Jackson stayed by the door while Dicks and Lewis headed for the cash registers.

That's when the shooting started.

Dicks fired a shot into the ceiling, alerting the customers that an armed robbery was taking place. One of the customers was packing a Glock 9 millimeter handgun, so he pulled it out of its holster. When Lewis saw this, he pointed the long gun at the customer and took the gun. Then he barreled his way into the manager's office and took about $8,000 from the vault and cash drawer.

But he wasn't finished yet.

On his way out the door, Lewis stopped at the customer who threatened him with the Glock. The disarmed customer was now kneeling on the ground with his arms raised. For Lewis, it was time for revenge. He fired at the man, grazing the customer along the side of his torso underneath his left arm.

"The bullet only grazed the customer’s left armpit," the prosecutor wrote. "But it was centimeters away from being lethal."

Then they fled into the November night.

INVESTIGATORS BEGAN questioning Safeway employes and customers, trying to find clues that might lead them to figure out who these masked men were. Following a tip from a customer who had been in the store the day before the robbery, they discovered surveillance footage of the man casing the joint. That's when they got their first big break in the case — when Lewis and Dicks made purchases they used their Safeway Clubcard at the register.

Detectives were able to obtain cell phone records that tracked the location of Lewis cell phone, a tactic increasingly used by law-enforcement agencies during investigations. The records showed he was at the Safeway before and during the robbery, so investigators were able to get a search warrant for his home in the District. There, they found a long gun, latex gloves, a black ski mask and a black backpack.

Lewis was arrested on Dec. 13 and taken to the Alexandria Police Department. After waiving his Miranda rights, he identified one of the men in the surveillance video as his cousin, Ray Allen Dicks. After he was taken to the city jail, he made a telephone call to his girlfriend, a call that was monitored.

"During the conversation, Lewis stated that he was locked up in Virginia for a robbery of a Safeway," prosecutors wrote in one document. "Lewis told his girlfriend that if she spoke to his 'Cuz' to tell him to 'stay the (expletive) out of the way because they got him."

"Ray who?" the girlfriend asked, according to a transcript of the call.

"Yea," he responded.

Later in the conversation, he asked her to get "Cuz" on the phone. Once again, she asked, "Ray who?" Once again, he responded, "Yea." That's when she made a three-way call to Dicks. During the conversation, which was monitored by authorities, Lewis warned Dicks that investigators were closing in.

"Hey, just stay low, son. That’s all I can say," Lewis told Dicks. "Just remember this: Crack."

"All right," Dicks responded. "I'm already hip."

Court records show that "Crack" was the nickname of a man who was later found to be in possession of the Glock that Lewis took from the Safeway customer. According a court records, the man stole the firearm from Lewis.

MANY PEOPLE who live in Old Town consider the Safeway more than a grocery store. It's a town center in a way, a place where neighbors gather and catch up on what's happening in Alexandria. Some jokingly call it the "Soviet Safeway" because of its diminutive size and selection. So when a U.S. Park Police helicopter began circling overhead that night, shining a spotlight in the alleyways of Old Town looking for the group of armed men who robbed the grocery store, the neighborhood went into a frenzy. Many were in disbelief that such a crime could happen in Old Town.

"All four conspirators — Dicks, Lewis, Riley and Jackson — embarked on a reckless and dangerous mission when they conspired to commit this armed robbery," the prosecutor wrote. "This discharge of two loaded firearms made this Safeway robbery even more dangerous than the typical robbery."