LAKEWOOD – Four Lakewood High School football players were arrested last week in connection with a series of armed robberies, police said.

Devin Delanie, 18, of Lakewood and three other township juveniles were charged with several counts of robbery and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose following armed robberies that all occurred in Lakewood within about 45 minutes of each other on Thursday night, Det. Sgt. Greg Staffordsmith of the Lakewood Police Department said.

"All four young men played football at Lakewood High School," Staffordsmith said via email on Monday night.

According to the Lakewood football team's roster, Delanie is a 6-foot-1, 210-pound senior linebacker and running back for the Piners.

The names of the other three charged in connection to the crimes were not released due to their ages, police said.

Police said the robbery spree started at 10:45 p.m. on Thursday when a 24-year-old Lakewood man told police he was walking near Second Street and Woehr Avenue when a light-colored Nissan Altima pulled up alongside him. The alleged victim told investigators one man got out of the car, pointed a gun at him and demanded his cell phone, Staffordsmith said. The alleged victim threw his phone at his assailant and ran, Staffordsmith said.

About 15 minutes later, a 26-year-old man was unloading groceries from his car near the front of his house on Eighth Street when of the suspects hit the alleged victim on the head but the man was not injured, Staffordsmith said.

At 11:10 p.m., two Lakewood women in their 20s were walking along Albert Avenue when they were approached by two young men, one of whom pointed a gun at them, Staffordsmith said. One of the assailants grabbed one of the women by the arm and tried to pull her into a wooded area but she managed to pull herself free and run away, Staffordsmith said.

At 11:25 p.m., a resident called police to report what he thought was a robbery in progress with two men trying to force a woman to the ground, Staffordsmith said. He said the suspects, including a third person who was in the car, may have been aware that the witness saw them because they fled in a light-colored Altima.

After checking on the condition of the woman, the witness went after the Altima and gave police a detailed description that resulted in the arrest of Delanie and two of the juveniles, Staffordsmith said.

The investigation led police to incidents in Toms River on Sept. 26 when a couple was robbed at gunpoint in the parking lot of Red Lobster shortly before midnight, said Ralph Stocco, spokesman for Toms River police.

That incident happened shortly after two women on Parkcrest Drive were accosted by two men who pointed a gun at them and demanded money, Stocco said.

Delanie and two of the juveniles were charged with armed robbery, theft and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, Staffordsmith said

On Friday afternoon, the fourth juvenile suspect – a 17-year-old Lakewood resident – was charged with robbery and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose for his involvement in two of the Lakewood robberies the previous night, Staffordsmith said.

Delanie was lodged in the Ocean County Jail in Toms River on $250,000 bail and the juveniles were taken to the county juvenile detention center in Toms River, Staffordsmith said.