Armed robbers held up three people in Albemarle County between Friday afternoon and Sunday morning, according to Albemarle County Police.
The first robbery occurred at Super Shoes shoe store in the Shopper's World shopping center on Route 29, shortly after 3 Friday afternoon.
A sales associate who was working at the cash register told Albemarle County Police that a man displayed a black handgun and demanded she give him the money in the register. The suspect took an undisclosed amount of money and fled the scene.
A similar robbery occurred early Sunday morning. Shortly after midnight, a robber entered the Royal Inn Motel, also on Route 29, brandished a handgun and demanded the desk clerk give him the money in the register. He fled the scene with an undisclosed amount of money, according to an Albemarle County press release.
Just an hour and a half later, Albemarle County Police received a 911 call from a man saying he had been robbed in University Heights apartments, an apartment complex off Ivy Road where many students reside. The victim, a 24-year-old Harrisonburg resident, said he was robbed by three males in a stairway. One of the robbers placed a handgun to the victim's forehead and demanded money. The victim handed over an undisclosed amount of cash and the suspects fled on foot.
Robberies of students around student residences are a fairly rare but not unknown occurrence, Albemarle County Police Sgt. Forrest Grout said.
"It'll happen at least once annually," Grout said.
All three crimes are under investigation by Albemarle County police. The police do not have any leads as of yet, other than the physical descriptions, he said.
The saleswoman at Super Shoes described that suspect as a black male, clean-shaven, between six feet and six feet-three inches tall, and 235 to 250 pounds.
The clerk at the Royal Inn described that suspect as a male of unknown race, about six feet tall, with a medium-to-heavy-build.
The victim in the University Heights robbery described one of the suspects as a black male, 25 to 30-years-old, about six feet tall clean-shaven, with short hair. He described another as a six-foot-tall black male. He could not provide a description of the third suspect.
It is unusual to have three armed robberies in one weekend, Grout said.
"There is a strong possibility that the crimes could be related, although there is no physical evidence that would indicate that they are," he said.
Two other local motels were robbed in the past month, Grout said, leading police to believe those incident may be related to the Royal Inn robbery.
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