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Robbers keep police guessing Photo by Bob Pennell Jeff Karlin, owner of Jan's Tans in Medford, says he doesn't think the man who robbed his business was very bright -- he held up a tanning salon in the off season. But the robber is still at large, along with a second man police believe may be involved in the crimes. Five unsolved holdups worry shop owners By JIM DAVIS Five armed robberies in little more than a week are leaving police frustrated and business owners and workers nervous. Police believe the robberies in Central Point, White City and Medford -- including two banks -- are connected and were committed by two men, one older and one younger, possibly working together, said Medford police Lt. Tim George. "The frustrating thing about this is we have a pretty good track history for clearing robbery cases," George said. "We've always prided ourselves on catching robbers -- especially bank robbers." The most recent robbery occurred about 1:20 a.m. Monday at Bobbio's Pizza in White City, where a female employee was held up at gunpoint. Most of the workers involved have been too spooked to talk about the crimes. Jeff Karlin, who owns Jan's Tans at the Medford Shopping Center and was robbed last Wednesday, said that business owners are getting spooked as well. "It does make people nervous," Karlin said. "I know some of the other shop owners are asking security to walk them out at night." The robberies include: Bobbio's Pizza, 7581 Highway 62, White City. Jackson County Sheriff's Lt. Dewey Patten said the employee, who was preparing to close, was shaking out rugs and walked into the pizzeria to get the garbage when she was confronted with a man in his 20s to 30s wearing a black or blue ski mask and holding a black pistol. The man took cash and ran away. Valley of the Rogue Bank, 2400 Poplar Drive, Medford. A young-looking man walked into the bank on Friday night with a semiautomatic handgun. Medford police were able to follow the man with dogs but lost the trail a few blocks away. Liberty Federal Bank, 1000 Biddle Road, Medford. An older man walked into the bank about 3 p.m. Wednesday and threatened employees and a customer verbally and with a note. The man was armed with a semiautomatic handgun. He may have worn a wig and phony mustache. Jan's Tans, 602 Medford Shopping Center, Medford. A younger man walked into the business, held a pistol on Karlin and told him it wasn't "a joke." Karlin gave the man cash and the robber ran away. Purple Parrot, 227 E. Main St., Central Point. An older man walked into the business on the evening of Nov. 15 and handed a note to the employee. He took cash from the cash drawer and forced the employee to the floor, said Central Point police Sgt. Tony McPherson. A couple of customers playing lottery machines who had their backs turned to the counter didn't even notice that a robbery had occurred. George said there are similar themes to each robbery -- although he declined to discuss why he thinks they're possibly related. "When you're looking at the descriptions, you either have two people acting together or two different suspects working in a very similar way," George said. The robber or robbers use a pistol, sometimes with a disguise or a mask, walk into the bank or business and leave quickly. A sixth robbery occurred earlier this month at the Lucky Dog Saloon in north Medford near the burned-out Boise Cascade mill. George said that police don't believe that robbery is connected with the current string. He declined to go into details. Karlin, who has owned Jan's Tans for five years, said he's keeping the same hours and he said "life goes on." He said the robber probably wasn't too sharp. "The guy can't be too bright, robbing a tanning salon in the off-season," Karlin said. George said his department is frustrated. Medford police handled 21 robberies through October this year and were able to solve about half of them. George said the department has "saturated" the areas around the businesses within a matter minutes after the three recent Medford robberies and couldn't find the criminal. "We haven't hit the ball on this," George said. "We're 0 for 3 on this." Central Point Sgt. McPherson said that an officer was a couple of blocks away from the Purple Parrot during that robbery. "An officer was within that area within seconds," McPherson said. "Nobody saw him, no vehicles, nobody running, no nothing." George said that victims in a robbery should take every safety precaution, but they should also be as observant as possible. He said it helps if they can tell police what direction the robber was going when he left. George said the police need the help of the public. "The best source of information is the citizens of this community," George said. "They're some of the best cops out there, because they know what doesn't look right." The Medford Police Department is offering a reward for information leading to the criminal or criminals. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA