When the Oswego 7-Eleven store on Montgomery Road was robbed in late in October 2015, it was the first time that had happened at that location in more than 10 years, according to Oswego police. (Photo by Erika Wurst for Chronicle Media)

A recent string of armed robberies occurring throughout several Kendall and Kane County communities has come to a halt over the last several weeks, local law enforcement officials said.

Late in last year, Oswego and Aurora police, along with Kendall County Sheriff’s deputies, reported a rise in armed robberies at gas stations, convenience stores and fast food restaurants throughout their jurisdictions. In many of the incidents, the suspects were masked and carrying handguns, police said.

Since Oct. 28, 2015, an Oswego Arby’s restaurant, Subway restaurant and 7-Eleven store located within a block of each other were all robbed in what Oswego Police Chief Jeffery Burgner said was a strange string of events.

“We haven’t had a robbery at our 7-Eleven in upwards of 10 years,” he said. “It’s not a place where we’ve had a lot of incidents.”

The Subway and Arby’s incidents seem varied from other jurisdiction’s recent robberies — mostly involving gas stations and convenience stores — but could in fact be related, Burgner said. Because of this, Burgner’s investigators are working with Kendall County deputies and Aurora police to see if there are connections between the incidents.

“We don’t know if it’s the same person or group,” Kendall County Deputy Mike Mrozek said of the investigations. “It could be one group of people or random people, but until we get further along in the investigation, it’s too hard to say one way or the other.”

In none of the incidents were any employees or customers injured.

“You can replace money and material possessions,” Mrozek said. “Luckily in these incidents no one was injured, and that’s the main thing.”

Although no robberies have been reported in Montgomery, Burgner said he’s been in touch with Montgomery Police Chief Daniel Meyers to keep him informed of the situation.

The information sharing has proven beneficial, Deputy Mrozek said.

“It adds resources for us,” he said. “If there are multiple departments investigating the same type of incident, more people are working on it. A big part of solving crimes is having departments work together and share information. It makes things more streamlined.”

The Subway restaurant on Douglas Road in Oswego was the target of an armed robbery last fall that police say was part of a string of related crimes in that area. (Photo by Erika Wurst for Chronicle Media)

The tactic paid off for Aurora Police in December when they arrested a man who had been charged with robbing a Naperville convenience store minutes earlier, Aurora Police Department spokesman Dan Ferrelli said.

“Had it not been for the outstanding working relationship we have with Naperville police, we may not have been able to make the arrest,” Ferrelli said. “Information we had exchanged over the several months these robberies were occurring was instrumental in setting up in the area where it was believed the suspect frequented.”

Aurora police continue to investigate whether that man played a role in any recent Aurora robberies, he said.

Aurora police said it’s not policy comment on patrol deployment measures being taken to curb the recent robberies, but Oswego police said they’ve amped-up patrol in the Douglas Road area where their robberies have occurred.

“We’re spending more time driving by our different businesses, as well as having a physical presence in them,” Burgner said. “We’ve definitely increased our presence in the area.”

The tactic seems to be working, he said.

The last robbery of a business in Oswego was reported on Jan. 1 at the Subway restaurant on Douglas Road.

“Within the village, things are quiet,” Burgner said. “It could be because of the increased patrols, which discourage this type of activity, and giving our officers direction to spend more time in that area.”

Aurora police have not had a robbery since Nov. 27, following a string of their own incidents, Ferrelli said.

Following two gas station robberies in unincorporated areas of Kendall County in late December, things are quiet in Kendall as well, Mrozek said.

That said, he noted that detectives are always looking for the public’s help in solving these cases.

Residents can call their local police departments or local Crime Stoppers hotlines to submit tips.

INFO BOX

HED:  Location of recent robberies

• Kendall County Sheriff’s Office:

Dec. 22, 2015

11 p.m.

Gas Mart USA

2500 block of Light Road, unincorporated Kendall County

Dec. 31, 2015

4:20 a.m.

Marathon Gas

0-99 block of Boulder Hill Pass, unincorporated Kendall County

• Oswego Police Department:

Nov. 29, 2015

3:15 a.m.

7-Eleven convenience store

0-99 block of East Merchants Drive

Oct. 28, 2015

11:35 p.m.

Arby’s restaurant

200 block of Douglas Road

Jan. 1, 2016

5:13 p.m.

Subway restaurant

300 block of Douglas Road

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— Police agencies putting resources on solving Kendall armed robberies —