An opportunistic robber New Orleans police are calling the “brown paper-bag bandit” for his unusual manner of confronting his victims is responsible for two-late night muggings this week in the Garden District, authorities said.

In the first case, two people were walking on Jackson Avenue near Camp Street around 1 a.m. Monday, Oct. 6, when they were approached from behind with a man in dark clothing with a paper bag over his hand, implying he had a weapon and demanding their belongings, said NOPD Sixth District Commander Ronnie Stevens.

In the second case, around 12:40 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 8, a woman had fallen off her bicycle on near Josephine and Chestnut (just on the opposite side of the Trinity Episcopal campus from Monday’s case) and the suspect stopped to help her, Stevens said. He then started to walk away, before turning back with the paper bag over his hand, Stevens said.

“He asked if the lady was OK, then he turned around and robbed her out of the stuff in the basket on her bike,” Stevens said Wednesday at the weekly meeting of NOPD commanders.

The bandit represents one of three or four serial robbers believed to be active around the Uptown area at the moment, which Commander Paul Noel in the neighboring Second District called the “main issue” currently facing investigators.

In separate set of cases, police believe two armed robberies on Carrollton Avenue in the Riverbend area are linked. The first took place Sunday, Sept. 28, at 11:42 p.m., at Carrollton and Freret, and the second was Wednesday, Oct. 1, at 11:56 p.m. near Carrollton and Burthe. Police have been tracking stolen credit cards and cell phones in those cases as they develop a suspect, Noel said.

Police now believe the armed robber at the Discount Corner on South Claiborne is operating independently from those targeting the Magnolia Discount stores on South Carrollton and Airline Highway, Noel said. Even so, all of the Second District’s proactive patrols have been directed into that area in order to break the case before it becomes more serious than a robbery, he said.

“That whole area is soaking up most of our resources,” Noel said. “We’ve gotta capture these guys, because sooner or later they’re going to kill somebody.”

Police have developed suspects, Noel said, though he declined to share any details. Second District violent-crime investigators have a 50-percent solve rate this year, well above the national average, Noel said, so he said he is confident that arrests are forthcoming.

“Armed robberies are the best thing we do, so I think we’re going to get a break on this,” Noel said.