Mpls. police investigate string of robberies

Minneapolis police are searching for a man suspected of robbing five south Minneapolis businesses in just two and a half hours this morning.

Police say the man robbed four Super America stores and a Walgreens pharmacy between 4 and 6:30 a.m. while holding a black semi-automatic handgun. He made off with hundreds of dollars in cash and a small amount of prescription narcotics. Such a crime spree is highly unusual, Minneapolis police spokesman John Elder said.

"This is really rare to the point where we have even reached out to agencies across the state to see if in fact this is matching anybody else's patterns that they've seen before as well," Elder said. "And so far we've had negative results."

Security camera footage from one of the stores shows a heavy-set African-American man dressed all in black wearing black knit hat and a black face mask. In least two of the robberies he wore glasses. Police say he is described as 20 to 30 years-old.