Police search for link in robberies

View larger image This is a surveillance still from Monday’s robbery at Handy Mart on Valley Avenue. Courtesy View larger image This is a surveillance still from Monday’s robbery at Handy Mart on Valley Avenue. Daily

WINCHESTER -- Police are still searching for clues in two weekend robberies that they say may be linked.

At 3:47 a.m. Monday, a man entered the Bo's Express at 3612 Valley Pike, grabbed the clerk's throat and demanded that the clerk open the register, according to Capt. John Heflin with the Frederick County Sheriff's Office.

The suspect took an undisclosed amount of cash and cigarettes and fled the scene on foot. The clerk was taken to Winchester Medical Center with injuries that were not life threatening, Heflin said.

The suspect was described as white, 23-24 years old, about 6 feet, 3 inches tall with a slim build and cleanly shaven. He was wearing a gray hoodie with a blue and white striped shirt underneath, blue jeans and blue tennis shoes.

A man with a similar description committed a similar crime at 6:38 a.m. at the Handy Mart at 2605 Valley Ave. in the city.

The man was not wearing a hoodie and had tattoos on both arms, according to the Sheriff's Office.