A recent string of robberies in the county has spurred law-enforcement agencies to form a robbery task force, a Harford County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman said.
The task force comprises members of the Harford County Sheriff's Office, Maryland State Police and the Aberdeen, Havre de Grace and Bel Air police departments, said spokeswoman Ginger Rigney.
Police officials believe the incidents could be related and said working together can help the agencies better coordinate their investigation.
"Due to this recent rash of robberies, we're making a concerted effort to combine our resources and our intelligence information so we can work together to put an end to these," said Sgt. Dave Elliott of the Harford County Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigation Division.
The robberies began June 8, Rigney said, with the armed robbery of a Crown gas station in Churchville. On June 10, an Amoco station in Bel Air was robbed, she said.
Since then, Rigney said, four similar armed robberies have occurred: June 15 at the Gunpowder Mobil gas station in Joppatowne, June 21 at a Royal Farms store in Churchville, June 21 at a Royal Farms in Aberdeen and June 24 at the Magnolia Exxon station in Edgewood.
"All these robberies show characteristics of being related," said Detective Tom Bradley of the Harford County Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigation Division. "They are all similar types of establishments - gas stations and convenience stores along the Route 22 and Route 40 corridors - and similar descriptions of the suspects, the methods they use, and the time they commit the robberies."
Task force members are looking for three men in their late teens or early 20s in connection with the robberies, Rigney said.
Anyone with information about the incidents is asked to call Elliott at the Harford County Sheriff's Office, 410-836-5427, or Detective Sgt. Doug Zeller of the state police at 410-838-4101.
