Police are asking for the public’s help solving two similar robberies this month at the Best Value Inn, 730 Iowa.

The most recent robbery happened about 6:20 a.m. Thursday when a man armed with a handgun ordered an employee to the ground and took an undisclosed amount of cash from the register.

A previous robbery happened Nov. 2 about 6 a.m. when a man acting as if he had a gun in his pocket entered the lobby, demanded money and then walked the employee to the restroom before fleeing.

In both cases, the description of the suspect is similar: a tall, slender black male with medium to light skin tone.

In the most recent robbery, the suspect was described as wearing a gray and black pullover jacket, black pants and black tennis shoes. He had a black towel wrapped around the lower portion of his face.

In the earlier robbery, he was described as wearing a blue and white stocking cap and a blue and white polo shirt pulled up over the lower portion of his face.

Lawrence Police are asking anyone with information to call the department’s detectives at 830-7430 or the Crime Stoppers hot line at 843-TIPS.