Denver police believe the same man is responsible for at least six brazen robberies in which he entered busy coffeeshops or bookstores, pointed a gun at his victims and demanded their laptop computers.

In the latest case, the gunman entered the Tattered Cover Book Store at 2526 E. Colfax Ave. shortly after 7 p.m. Friday, wearing a mask and gloves.

He walked into the bookstore's coffeeshop, pointed his gun at a customer and took off with a $2,500 Dell laptop computer, according to a police report.

"He knows what he's looking for," Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson told CBS 4 News. "He's taking high-end laptops. He's not taking junk."

Detective Virginia Quinones, a spokeswoman with the department, said the other incidents happened along the East Colfax corridor in the past several months.

"We believe it's the same person of interest in several other laptop robberies," she said.

"It's not a case of someone leaving (the laptop) unattended. He was threatened with a weapon. He did the right thing and complied."

She would not elaborate on details as to why the department believes the cases are linked.

"We're just fortunate that he didn't opt to use that weapon," she said.

The bookstore's manager, Matt Sturm, said store surveillance camera showed the suspect entered from the door near the coffeeshop, looked around and returned minutes later to steal the laptop.

The man fled on foot.

"The entire thing took less than a minute," Sturm said. "I wasn't here, but there's usually anywhere from 20 to 40 people in the bookstore at that time."

As a result of the robbery, the bookstore has hired a security guard.

"We'd like to stress that we have a security guard so customers can have a safe experience as possible," Sturm said.

In a similar incident, a ski- masked gunman approached a customer at the Starbucks at 801 Colorado Blvd. about 7:50 p.m. on Saturday. "Don't move," he said, pointing the gun.

But the customer refused to hand over his laptop, according to the report, and the robber fled.

ramirezr@RockyMountainNews.com or 303 954-5067