ORLANDO, Fla. – Authorities are looking for a man believed to be responsible for a carjacking Wednesday morning, as well as a slew of other recent crimes in the area, according to officials with the Orlando Police Department.
[PREVIOUS STORY: Man shot at drive-up ATM in Winter Garden, police say]
Police said Wednesday morning that the armed man carjacked a woman in the parking lot of a Petco store at 2410 East Colonial Drive around 7:40 a.m. and used her vehicle to carry out a robbery at a nearby Walgreen's convenience store.
"Our concern at this point is that he continues to escalate and he becomes more violent, and we're asking the community if you know the whereabouts to call Crimeline because we want to get him off the street as fast as possible," said Capt. Carlos Torres with the Orange County Sheriff's Office.
The Orange County Sheriff's Office, Orlando Police Department and Winter Garden Police Department continue to investigate the series of crimes.
After the robbery at Walgreen's, police said the man again fled in the vehicle and eventually abandoned it near Hankins Park.
[INTERACTIVE: See a timeline of the man's crime spree below. Story continues after timeline]
Based on the man's description in the Wednesday crime and the way the carjacking was carried out, police said they believe the alleged carjacker is the same man wanted in connection with two armed robberies in Orlando and a carjacking and shooting in Winter Garden that took place earlier this week.
"This is an extraordinarily dangerous person who is kind of terrorizing our entire community at this point," Orlando police public information officer Michelle Guido said. "We believe he is very dangerous and anybody who runs into him could be in great danger."
Authorities released video that captured the man in Sunday's robbery at the CVS on East Colonial in hopes that the community will help identify him.
OPD detectives believe this suspect struck again this morning when he carjacked a woman at gunpoint in the parking lot of the Petco on E. Colonial Dr.
— Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) April 4, 2018
Please take a close look at this video from an armed robbery Sunday and call @CrimelineFL with any information. 800-423-TIPS https://t.co/jgu1TUVOan
The victim in a carjacking believed to be carried out by the same man called 911 after he was held at gunpoint during the crime at a Walgreen's on Wednesday evening on West Colonial Drive.
In the 911 call, the victim tells dispatchers the man pointed a gun in his face before taking off in his vehicle.
Winter Garden police said earlier this week that they were working with Orlando police and hoped surveillance video would help catch the man. Police said he is slender, black and stands about 5 feet 8 inches tall.
Detectives are searching for any other video or clues to help them track down the man responsible. A sketch of the man was released Wednesday night.
Anyone with information about the man is urged to call Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS.