Published: March 27, 2008 11:46 pm      

Somerset robbery rampage continues

SOMERSET — Another day, another armed robbery.

CoGo’s convenience store in Bakersville became the fourth Somerset-area business to be held up in six days when it was robbed early Thursday.

But unlike the other three robberies in Somerset in which knives were flashed, the two thieves in the CoGo’s holdup displayed a handgun, state police said.

The robbers escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash in a white car parked between the store and Route 31, state police Trooper Mark Galli said.

Authorities are looking into whether the four crimes are connected.

Galli said two white men in their 20s entered the store shortly after midnight.

While one pointed a gun at one of two clerks, the other yelled, “This is a robbery. Give me all your money in both registers.”

One of the suspects was about 6-foot tall; the other stood between 5-foot-7 and 5-foot-9.

Wednesday evening, a lone bandit robbed Christian Book Store & Office Supply in Somerset Borough. The man fled with cash after pointing a knife at a clerk.

That holdup followed similar robberies at Subway restaurant on Berlin-Plank Road Monday night and Fox’s Pizza Den on East Main Street on March 21.

Ironically, CoGo’s in Bakersville began operating around-the-clock after it was the target of two late-night break-ins around Christmas.

Borough police Chief Randy Cox said officers suspect the three in Somerset are related, but cautioned that police aren’t sure whether the CoGo’s holdup is tied in.

“The unique thing about this is the quick succession,” Cox said.