Akron police have released surveillance pictures of a man suspected of robbing four cell phones stores.
Police said the hold-ups happened July 12 at a T-Mobile store on North Hawkins Street, September 27 and October 9 at a Boost Mobile store on East Avenue and October 18 at a Boost Mobile business on South Hawkins Street.
Surveillance pictures from the East Avenue store show the man wearing a blue-hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses outside the store. Once inside the business, he looked right at a camera. He appeared to be wearing a dark-colored hat.
In all of the cases, the man pulled a gun and stole either money or cell phones, police said.
After the October 9 robbery, a home surveillance system captured video of the suspected getaway car, a 2002 or 2003 gold Mitsubishi Galant.
Lt. Rick Edwards said police have stepped up patrols near cell phones stores with the serial crook still on the run. He said workers have experienced "mental anguish," worried the man will keep robbing cell phone stores at gunpoint.
"There's a gun involved. Could another customer walk in the store? Could an employee walk out of the back room of a business and startle this person? Before this escalates, I think we need to get him into custody," Edwards said.
Summit County Crimestoppers is offering a reward up to $2,000 for information that leads to the serial robber. Tipsters can remain anonymous when calling 330-434-COPS.
