PORTLAND, Ore. — Law enforcement agencies throughout the Portland metro region are seeking the public's help to identify a suspect in a string of robberies committed throughout the area over the past two months.
Police believe the same suspect is responsible for more than 30 robberies between April 7 and June 6, according to a press release from the Vancouver Police Department.
One of the businesses the man is suspected of holding up is Advanced Cosmetics in Downtown Vancouver. The man walked in demanding cash and got away with an employee's bag.
"Nobody should go through that situation," employee Jacob Woodring said. "Nobody should have to deal with gun violence in any way."
Based on surveillance video from several of the robberies, the suspect is described as a white male adult, about 30-35 years old with brown hair and a brown beard, standing about 5-feet-8-inches to 5-feet-10-inches, about 160 pounds, and usually wearing a face covering and baseball cap.
The suspect typically enters businesses, produces a handgun and demands cash before fleeing, police said. Targeted businesses have included coffee shops, hotels, auto parts stores, take-out restaurants, gas stations, a cosmetics store and at least one adult store.
"Certainly a very scary experience for the clerks or patrons in the businesses when this is happening," Kim Kapp of the Vancouver Police Department said.
The Portland Police Bureau, Vancouver Police Department, Gresham Police Department, Lake Oswego Police Department, West Linn Police Department, Hillsboro Police Department, Washougal Police Department, Gladstone Police Department Clark County Sheriff's Office, Washington County Sheriff's Office and Clackamas County Sheriff's Office are all investigating the robberies.
Anyone with information about the identity or whereabouts of the suspect is asked to call 911 in their respective jurisdiction. The suspect is believed to be armed and dangerous, police said, and members of the public should not approach him.