Brewer - In a span of about 14 hours this weekend, three local pharmacies were robbed and one was broken into.

It started Sunday around three-am when a young male reportedly broke into the Unity Pharmacy.

It's unknown what he took, or how much.

Three pharmacies in Bangor and Brewer were robbed later in the day.

Police say these robberies are likely following a similar pattern.

The number of pharmacy robberies is up more than 1200 percent compared to 2008, including three robberies in less than two hours in Bangor and Brewer Sunday afternoon.

"This is a trend that's been happening across the nation, not just in Maine," said Captain Christopher Martin of the Brewer Police Department. "People have been successful in robbing pharmacies, and that's why you'll see these copy cats and it's repeated. The solution to this is to solve the pharmacy robberies, hold people accountable for it and be harder targets and we will reduce the number of pharmacy robberies by doing that."

The robberies of the Rite Aid at Union and Fourteen Streets in Bangor, the Rite Aid on Wilson Street in Brewer, and the Hannaford pharmacy at the Airport Mall in Bangor are still being investigated by police, but according to Captain Martin it seems they are all following a similar trend.

"You're not going to see regular consumer behavior, they're going to be almost, counter surveillance if you will, look like they're shopping but not really shopping, looking around, hanging out for long periods of time of the parking lot or in the store again just trying to assess their surroundings and pick the time that they want to do this."

If anyone is working at one of these pharmacies, or a customer at the time of a robbery, police have this advice.

"Your life or anyone else's safety isn't worth property, and property can be replaced. The advice we give people in any type of retail or convenience is hand it over, be the best witness you can be," said Captain Martin. "We can replace property, we can't replace people."

Captain Martin says frequent reports of robberies may be making customers more aware of who else is in pharmacies when they are.

Friday night in Corinth, a man was reportedly in the Community Pharmacy at Tradewinds a little before 7, wearing a hoodie and sunglasses and acting suspicious.

The pharmacist was alerted, but the man left without incident.

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