Three men have been arrested following four robberies at commercial premises in east, south and west Belfast on Sunday afternoon.
Detectives are making a fresh appeal for information.
In the first incident, two men entered a shop on Mountpottinger Road. One approached the counter to pay for an item and, when the shop till was opened, the second man leapt over the counter and put his hand in the till drawer to grab money.
A struggle ensued between the suspect and a staff member during which the employee sustained an injury to her arm. The suspects fled with a sum of money and got into a car outside the shop, possibly a red Renault Megane.
One man is described as being approximately 30 years of age, tall with very short ginger hair, ginger stubble, and was wearing a khaki green ‘Ellesse’ hoody with two white horizontal stripes.
The second man is described as being in his 20s, with dark hair. He was wearing a black woolly hat, black raincoat, grey sweatpants, and black Nike trainers with a white sole.
A short time later, at 1.20pm, police received a report about another incident at commercial premises in Finwood Park in South Belfast. In this instance, a man, believed to be in his 20s entered the premises and stole an amount of money from the till, and after a struggle with a staff member, he ran away. He was wearing a distinctive black coat with red zips.
In the next incident, which was reported to police at 1.30pm, there was an attempted robbery at commercial premises in the Erinvale Drive area of South Belfast. A single man, who is described as being in his mid-20s, and wearing a black tracksuit top, attempted to steal money from the till, but was unsuccessful.
In the final incident, reported at 1.52pm, a man entered commercial premises in the Rowan Drive area of Dunmurry and queued at the till before attempting to grab money when the till opened. He was unsuccessful. The man is described as being in his 20s, of slim build with a moustache. He was wearing a black coat with red zips, grey tracksuit bottoms and black Nike trainers with a white tick.
Just before 3pm a police patrol located and stopped a Red Renault Megane on Lower Crescent in south Belfast and three men, aged 26, 35 and 53 were arrested.
The 26-year-old was arrested on suspicion of a number of offences, including robbery, theft, two counts of attempted theft, possession of a class A drug and possessing of a class A drug with intent to supply. He remains in custody at this stage.
The 35-year-old was arrested on suspicion of robbery, theft, two counts of attempted theft, possession of a class A drug, possession of a class A drug with intent to supply and possession of a class c drug.
The 55-year-old was arrested on suspicion of robbery, theft, two counts of attempted theft, possession of a class A drug, possession of a class A drug with intent to supply.
“The 35 and 55-year-old men have been released on bail pending further enquiries.
“These incidents were terrifying for the members of staff involved and I wish to reassure the local community that Police are doing all they can to identify those responsible for these types of incidents and bring them before the courts,” said Detective Sergeant Stephen Gardiner.
“I am appealing to anyone who was in the area of each of these incidents yesterday afternoon, who saw two males acting suspiciously, or who believes they saw the a vehicle matching that reported to have been used by the suspects, to get in touch with detectives on 101, quoting reference 931 of 09/06/19,” he added.
Alternatively, information can also be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 which is 100% anonymous and gives people the power to speak up and stop crime.