Ethan Safran

USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

APPLETON - Police have yet to determine whether the five armed robberies to hit the Appleton-Grand Chute area in the past two weeks are connected.

The latest was a robbery at a Walgreens store in the 700 block of W. Northland Avenue on Wednesday morning.

Sgt. Dave Lund said a man pointed a gun at an employee at 5:55 a.m. and waved to a cash register. He then robbed the store of money and fled on foot toward the east. No one was injured. Police responded to the scene shortly after 6 a.m.

Wednesday's armed robbery is the fifth since Dec. 30.

The suspect in Wednesday's robbery is described as 6 feet tall with a large build. He was wearing an olive-colored or green hooded jacket, blue jeans and black gloves.

The man's face was covered with a camouflage-patterned scarf. Lund said the man's jacket has a pocket on the upper left arm and may have been made of wind- or rain-resistant material.

"At this point, we're not discounting anything," Lund said about the possibility that the robberies are connected. "We have to be open-minded."

Appleton police responded to armed robberies Monday at Family Dollar in the 800 block of W. Wisconsin Avenue and at Cartridge World on N. Richmond Street on Jan. 7. Grand Chute police responded to an armed robbery at Secrets Lingerie on Jan. 5 and an armed robbery at Zza Odyssey pizza restaurant on Dec. 30.

Lund said there are minor differences in Wednesday's robbery. Rather than simply flashing a gun, the suspect on Wednesday pointed a gun at an employee.

Monday's robbery suspect was described as approximately 6 feet tall with a slender build, while Wednesday's suspect has a larger build.

The suspect in the Jan. 7 robbery at Cartridge World was described as 6-3 to 6-4, with a medium build.

"The concern is you have somebody that's doing this and they're armed," Lund said about Wednesday's robbery. "You don't know what their state of mind is. You don't know what they're willing to do."

The Outagamie County Sheriff's Department said a K9 was brought in Wednesday to track the suspect, but was unsuccessful.

Lund said people should report any suspicious activity to the police. "We'd rather get that call ... than to have more of these go on."

Anyone with information is asked to call Sgt. Brian Leitzinger at 920-832-5541. Those wishing to remain anonymous may text CRIMES (274-637) with the keyword APDTIPS at the beginning of the message.

Ethan Safran: 920-996-7267 or esafran@gannett.com; on Twitter @EthanSafran