Robberies have increased slightly this year over 2017 in the unincorporated areas of the county, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said.

The Sheriff’s Office investigated five robberies in all of 2017 compared to six robberies through almost eight months this year.

The Sheriff’s Office deals with areas that are out of the jurisdiction of the county’s police departments but within the county. That do not count robberies that have occurred in the city limits.

Deputy Marcus McLellan said the department believes that there is only one instance where the same suspects were involved in multiple robberies.

“Other than the one we had in Mid County, where they tried to rob one of the local stores down there, and then they robbed on farther down the road, that’s the only one we know that the same individuals were involved,” he said. “We know that based on the same vehicles they used. As far as ours go, we don’t have anything linking them at this moment.”

McLellan said smaller scale crime tends to pick up during the summer and calm down after the beginning of the school year.

“Kids get bored,” he said. “They start hanging around older kids and aren’t in a structured environment like they are during the school year. Not to say that things blow out of proportion. There is some additional stuff that comes up during the summer.

“It’s usually smaller crime like auto burglaries and stuff where kids are out and about at night. The auto burglaries are usually on unlocked cars.”

McLellan said use of social media and reaching out to the community helped gather information in solving some robberies.

“We’ve been pushing the photos through the media, social media and Crime Stoppers,” he said. “We’ve been getting beneficial information that has helped us with these cases.”

JCSO is still asking for the publics help to identify two suspects that robbed Stuckey’s Travel Center off Interstate 10 on Aug 11. If anyone has information regarding this robbery, they can call Crime Stoppers at 835-8477.

Those who provide information about the identity of the suspects could be eligible for a cash reward.