CSRA serial robber strikes again — this time in Columbia County

GROVETOWN, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Authorities believe the man behind a string of armed robberies across the CSRA is responsible for two holdups in Columbia County.

And officers may be zeroing in on him. Deputies are involved in a manhunt in the area of Washington Road and Merriweather Trail. They said they’re looking for two robbery suspects. And while they’re not sure whether the pair are involved in the string of crimes, it’s possible, according to Columbia County Sheriff’s Office Maj. Steve Morris.

In the latest case known to be linked to the robbery spree, the Grovetown Department of Public Safety responded to an armed robbery at Billy Jack’s Liquor on Harlem Grovetown Road at Wrightsboro Road shortly before 11 p.m. Wednesday.

Then around 11:30, deputies responded to Evans Package at 4115 Columbia Road for another armed robbery.

The robber in both incidents was described as a light-skinned Black male in his early 20s and in possession of a black semi-automatic handgun. He was believed to be driving a white car of an unknown make and model.

The same man is believed to be responsible for additional armed robberies of gas stations and liquor stores across Richmond, Aiken, McDuffie and Wilkes counties.

He may be the same man who robbed the Spee-Dee Foods store in the 400 block of Gordon Street in Thomson on Oct. 4. The robber in that incident wore a black hoodie pulled over his head and a medical mask over part of his face, along with blue jeans and black and white shoes. He brandished a handgun and received an undisclosed amount of cash before leaving the store first on foot, then in a white car.

He also may be the same man suspected of masterminding the Sept. 24 and Oct. 8 armed robberies of Circle K stores on East Pine Log Road and Hitchcock Parkway in Aiken. In both instances, the masked suspect entered the store armed with a handgun, demanded money, and also asked the employees to open the store safes.

In Richmond County, two other incidents on Barton Chapel Road and Wrightsboro Road are believed to be connected to the same man.