CHAMPAIGN — Champaign police are investigating the armed robbery of a cab driver early Wednesday afternoon on the city's north side.

It marks the third robbery of a cab driver in Champaign-Urbana since Friday.

Meanwhile, Champaign Police Chief R.T. Finney said that a Champaign man who has been charged in connection with the first robbery is a suspect in the second.

Champaign police spokeswoman Rene Dunn said a female cab driver picked up a man at Illinois Terminal at 12:31 p.m. Wednesday.

When the cab reached the area of Raintree Drive and Juniper Drive in the Shadow Wood Mobile Home Park, the man pulled out a handgun and demanded that the driver give him cash. The robber took the cash, left the cab and ran away behind some trees near Raintree Drive.

The driver then went to a nearby business, where she contacted police, Dunn said.

The cab driver was not injured, Dunn said.

The robber was described as a 25-year-old heavy-set black man with braided hair and no facial hair. He is 5 feet 8 inches tall and was wearing a white T-shirt with a small emblem over the chest area, dark-colored jogging pants and tennis shoes.

People with information about the incident are asked to call the Champaign Police Department at 351-4545 or Champaign County Crimestoppers at 373-TIPS.

Tips can also be sent at http://www.373tips.com or by text, by sending Tip397 plus the tip to CRIMES (274637).

The Wednesday robbery was the third robbery of a cab driver in Champaign-Urbana since Friday and the second involving a cab ride that began at Illinois Terminal.

In the first incident, police say, a 49-year-old Urbana cab driver picked up a customer in the 700 block of North Mathews Avenue, Urbana, at 1:32 p.m. Friday to take him to an address in Champaign.

The passenger pulled out a gun, took cash and keys from the cab driver and ran away.

The cab driver was not injured, according to police.

In the second incident, another cab driver picked up two men at Illinois Terminal in downtown Champaign about 12:15 a.m. Saturday. The passengers asked the cab driver to turn into a parking area in the 1600 block of Kiler Drive on Champaign's north side. Then one of the men put his arms around the driver's neck and demanded money. The driver handed over his wallet while a gun was pointed at him, the report said.

The men told the victim to drive in the direction of Hickory Street, where they forced him to turn over cash separate from what they got from his wallet, according to the report.

About that time the driver got a dispatch call to pick up another fare, and the robbers noticed some police cars in the area, the report said.

When the robbers told the driver to head west on Washington Street, the driver jumped from the moving vehicle and ran away, heading south.

According to the report, one of the robbers then moved to the driver's seat and began to drive around the area. Police later found the cab near the intersection of Elm and Columbia streets.

Urbana police Lt. Bryant Seraphin said police arrested Antonio Chipman, 20, who listed two different addresses in Champaign, in connection with the Friday robbery. Chipman was found by police in the 900 block of North Fifth Street, Champaign, on Saturday afternoon. He matched a description given by the victim.

Chipman pleaded innocent on Monday to one count of aggravated vehicular hijacking and one count of vehicular hijacking and was still being held at the Champaign County Jail on Wednesday afternoon on $50,000 bond.

If convicted of the more serious charge, Chipman could be sentenced to up to 45 years in prison.

Finney said on Wednesday afternoon that Chipman is also a suspect in Saturday's robbery in Champaign, but Chipman had not yet been arrested in connection with that incident.

Judge John Kennedy set Chipman's next court appearance for Aug. 23.