Detectives were searching Friday for suspects who robbed or attempted to rob three Franklin Township businesses at gunpoint over the course of five days, according to a statement from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.
The office did not release any photos of the suspects and said they were working to determine if the robberies were connected.
The spree began on Aug. 6 shortly after 5 a.m. at hotel on Cottontail Lane, the office said. When officers arrived, an employee said a man wearing a hooded sweatshirt with a white facial covering who was holding a handgun came toward him and demanded that he lay on the floor. The man then instructed the employee to take money from the cash register and left with an undisclosed amount of money as well as the employee’s cellphone.
The second incident happened on Tuesday shortly after midnight at an unidentified convenience store on Hamilton Street, authorities said. A man in his early 20s armed with a handgun walked into the store and demanded money.
The employee was able to distract him and knocked down the cash drawer to prevent him from taking any money, the office said. The man then fled the store empty-handed.
The final robbery happened on Wednesday, again, shortly after midnight, at a Franklin Boulevard gas station, investigators said. An employee told police that two men in their late teens walked into the store at the station and one of them pointed a gun at him and told him to open the cash drawer. The other man then reached into the drawer and removed some cash before the pair fled.
Anyone with information about the robberies was asked to contact the Somerset County Prosecutors Office Major Crimes Unit at 908-231-7100 or the Franklin Township Police Department at 732-873-5533 or via the STOPit app. Information can also be provided through the Somerset County Crime Stoppers’ Tip Line at 1-888-577-TIPS (8477).
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Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com.
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