Police are concerned that a serial armed robber who held up four local stores the past week is becoming violent; they are urging businesses to be on guard.

“He’s obviously dangerous,” said Sgt. Moses Perez of the Dayton Police Department. “He’s got that gun and he makes no bones about it. We’re worried he might hurt somebody, maybe escalate in violence and we’re hoping to catch him before then.”

The latest robbery occurred Wednesday afternoon at the Dollar General on Wayne Avenue. A store employee told officers that a man wearing dark clothing went around the counter as the clerk was ringing up a customer and demanded cash.

In a store surveillance video, the barrel of a weapon can be seen sticking out of the suspect’s right sleeve. He then ordered the employee to the ground before emptying the cash register and quickly exiting the store on foot, according to police.

A man matching the suspect’s description also robbed the Family Dollar on Wayne Avenue in a similar fashion March 5. He approached a female clerk when she opened the safe to get change, and the woman jumped on his back in an attempt to stop the robbery. In that instance, the robber pushed her away and fired a shot at the floor, telling the clerk “the next one is for you,” Perez said.

The clerk wasn’t harmed, but the suspect got away with an unknown amount of cash, police said.

Detectives later learned the same man may be responsible for two more robberies on Dayton’s west side. The Dollar General at 445 Salem Ave. and the Dollar General at 2312 N. Main St. were also robbed.

The location of each robbery is in close proximity to each other, so police believe the suspect lives in the Dayton area.

In each incident, he enters the store without a mask and tries to “blend in” with other customers, police said. He then puts on a mask and threatens or shoves employees.

The suspect is described as a slender light skinned black male, about 6 feet tall wearing dark clothing, a blue fur-lined toboggan-style hat, mask and brandishing a black gun.

Anyone with information can contact police anonymously through the Miami Valley Crime Stoppers line, (937) 222-7867.