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Armed bandit robs eighth Albany business

• Police are looking for a bandit who they say is responsible for eight armed robberies since Father’s Day.

Joshua Brown

ALBANY — The man police say is responsible for seven robberies since Father’s Day added No. 8 to the list after police tabbed him as being responsible for an early-morning armed robbery Friday of the Burger King on West Oglethorpe Boulevard.

Albany Police Department spokeswoman Phyllis Banks said Friday that police believe the same man was responsible for a series of robberies since Father’s Day. The robber, wearing dark clothes and a red bandanna, typically walks into an East Albany business and robs it at gunpoint.

So far, no injuries have been reported, but Banks said the man is armed and should therefore be considered dangerous.

In the latest robbery, a namdit wearing a red bandanna, black pants and a black shirt entered the Burger King on the 400 block of West Oglethorpe Boulevard about 6:45 a.m. armed with a handgun, according to a police report.

An employee, Linda Jones, said the man “waited patiently” at the counter, but when he began to wave the gun around, she yelled, “He’s got a gun” and the other employees ran out the back of the store. The man then ran out the west side of the building, according to the report.

Another restaurant employee told police the man approached three customers sitting on the north side of the store before entering the building and told them to be quiet, pointing the gun at yet another store employee on his way inside.

The man got into a green Ford Explorer that drove off at a high rate of speed, according to the report.

Anyone with any information about the robberies or the man can call (229) 436-TIPS or 911 if it is an emergency.

Banks said business owners who are robbed by the man should comply with his demands and be cautious in their dealings with him. Police do not have an accurate description of the bandit, she said.

The targets for his robberies have been a wide range of businesses, usually located on the east side of town, she said.

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