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Police look for robbery leads By CHRIS BRISTOL Medford police badly want the Ding Dong who robbed a Hostess Cake warehouse Monday night. Not to mention a used car lot last Thursday. And a motel Aug. 14. And a restaurant and a pizzeria July 31. And a small market, where it all started, on July 3. Altogether, detectives believe the same robber has committed six holdups in Medford and a seventh in White City over the past three months. The most recent occurred Monday night, at the Hostess Cake warehouse off Rossanley Drive. It was no cupcake caper, either. "This has nothing to do with Twinkies or Snowballs or anything," Lt. Tim George said. "It was straight-up money." The robber and an accomplice might even be responsible for an eighth robbery, the Sept. 21 holdup of a Purple Parrot video-poker deli on Biddle Road. If so, he had a nylon stocking over his head. At a news conference Tuesday, George said his detectives are getting frustrated. The robber is armed, and he's getting more aggressive. "We've seen the violence escalate to the point where someone is going to get hurt if we don't intervene soon," he said. Early on, the robber used a note to make his intentions clear. He always displayed a handgun, but sometimes he left it in his waistband and simply lifted his shirt to reveal it. But lately he has been acting more dangerously. George said the robber pointed his gun at the head of a Hostess Cake delivery driver Monday. Last Thursday, at The Car Lot, he pointed the gun at an employee and cocked the hammer. In all but one of the seven cases, he escaped on foot -- perhaps to a getaway car parked around the corner. The lone exception was the Aug. 14 robbery of the Tiki Lodge, after which he was seen pedaling away on a mountain bike. George said the robber probably lives in the area, and has avoided common robbery targets such as banks and convenience stores. In other words, no videotape. But composite sketches bear striking similarities. And so do the physical descriptions. White male adult, mid- to late 30s. Height: 5-foot-10. Weight: medium build, 150 to 180 pounds. Hair: dark brown, short, receding. He always wears dark sunglasses. He may be missing some front teeth. He may have a tattoo or scar on his left forearm. Sometimes he has a mustache, and his beard grows fast. Medford police have recorded 23 robberies through August, about average for the year, George said. Even so, eight unsolved cases in three months has skewed the department's above-average "clearance" rate of 50 percent. Police list a case as cleared when an arrest has been made. "In baseball terminology, we need to hit the ball here," George said. "I guarantee you 0-8 is not going to get you in the Hall of Fame." Still, protecting their pride is not the priority. Convinced the robber is growing bolder and more dangerous, police crave a tip, and have announced a $1,000 reward as an incentive to get one. "Someone knows him," George said. "Someone knows what's going on." If you have any information about this case, please call Detective Bill Ford at 774-2236. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA