A pair of brazen daylight robberies have police searching for a suspect and residents there are on alert.

Investigators believe the same man is responsible for both robberies, because the description and the weapon he used match.

Police say they're especially concerned about these robberies because the happened in broad daylight and in areas where there are lots of people around.

The alley next to the Varsity Theatre on East Franklin Street was the place where the first robbery happened. At about 6:30 p.m., two victims were walking South toward East Franklin Street when another man approached them and asked to use a cell phone. Police say he then pulled out a sawed-off shotgun and robbed them before sprinting away.

He showed up across town 11 minutes later in an automobile at an ATM as a woman was doing her banking.

"I pressed the deposit button and as I was typing '$23' when a car pulled up next to me," said the victim, who asked NBC17 not to reveal her name.

The victim says the car pulled up so tight against hers she had no place to go as the suspect began the robbery.

"He put a two-barreled shotgun over the window and told me to empty out my account and to give him everything I had," the frightened woman said.

The victim says the worst of thoughts then occurred to her.

"The first thing that came to my mind was the Eve Carson event back in March," she said. "I thought, 'the same thing will happen to me.' I didn't know if he was going to hurt me, I didn't know if he was going to follow me to other ATMs till my account was emptied."

After getting $300 dollars, he let the victim go.

"He just told me to drive, move and not to look at him," she explained.

At a traffic light the victim headed in the opposite direction as the thief took refuge in a nearby neighborhood.

"That's when the whole thing hit me. I freaked out, I hyperventilated. I was crying and couldn't breathe," she said.

Investigators say they are working on a surveillance photo of the suspect, which they hope to release sometime Tuesday. According to the victim of the ATM robbery, the suspect drove away in an older 80s four-door gray colored sedan. The suspect is described as a male in his mid-to-early twenties wearing a black baggy shirt and dark colored pants.

Anyone with information regarding these incidents is asked to call the Chapel Hill Police Department at 968-2760 or Crimestoppers at 226-CRIM(E).

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