Recently, five armed robberies have occurred at local businesses and police believe the suspect in each case is the same person.

Since Oct. 30, five armed robberies—one at the DB Mart convenience store in Stoneham, another at Sunset Tanning in Stoneham, Richdale Convenience in Melrose, Dairy Barn in Winchester and the DB Mart in Woburn—have taken place, according to investigators.

The suspect is described as being a white male, approximately 5-foot-8, wearing a black hat, black mask, black sweat shirt, black gloves, black running pants with a white stripe down the leg and black sneakers with white soles, according to Stoneham Detective Christopher Dalis. 

"I have been working with Woburn, Winchester and Melrose detectives," said Stoneham Detective Christoper Dalis. "We are confident that all the recent robberies are the same suspect and related. This is due to the same description and we have compared surveillance video." 

Melrose Lt. Mark DeCroteau echoed Dalis' statement, saying the suspect in the armed robbery Wednesday night at the Richdale Convenience Store, 54 West Wyoming Ave., matched the description of the suspect involved in other area armed robberies.

According to a Melrose Police press statement, the suspect is described as a white man, wearing a dark leather jacket, hooded sweatshirt and dark athletic-style pants with two white stripes down the legs, according to police. The man covered his face by wearing a cloth mask, hood and baseball hat, police added.

According to DeCroteau, Richdale has been robbed five times since 2007, including three unsolved cases in November 2007, one solved case in May 2010 and Wednesday's armed robbery.

Meanwhile, there was a nighttime armed robbery at the DB Mart in Woburn, as well as one Nov. 5 at the Dairy Barn in Winchester, according to Dalis. As with the other armed robberies in the area, an undisclosed amount of cash was stolen from the register in both cases, according to police.

Anyone with information related to the case is asked to contact Stoneham Detective Christopher Dalis at 781-438-1215 ext. 3133, Melrose Police Detective Bureau at 781-979-4473 or 781-979-4472 or Melrose Police's anonymous tips line at 781-979-4470.