The west Ames location of Mayfair Cleaners, 3339 Lincoln Way, was robbed Tuesday afternoon by a lone gunman.

Ames Police currently are investigating the robbery, but as of press time, the suspect was still at large and considered to be armed with a handgun.

Sgt. Randy Kessel, Ames Police public information officer, said the gunman entered the store, which was vacant except for the clerk, at 4:28 p.m. and demanded the clerk hand over all of the cash in the store.

No shots were fired and no one was hurt, Kessel said. The amount of cash stolen is still undetermined.

Kessel said police response to the crime was unusually fast because an Ames policeman drove by in a patrol car immediately after the incident.

“There was an officer right in that immediate vicinity, and the victim ran out and hailed the officer and reported it at the scene,” Kessel said.

Despite the quick response time, police had no visual contact with the suspect, Kessel said.

There were reports that the suspect fled northbound from the store, which is located on the corner of Lincoln Way and Franklin Avenue.

According to a police department press release, the suspect was described as a white adult male between 20 and 30 years of age, standing about 5 foot 8 inches tall, wearing a striped shirt, blue jeans, a dark colored baseball hat and sunglasses.

This is the fourth armed robbery in Ames this year.

A suspect has been arrested only in the April 3 heist of Hy-Vee, 640 Lincoln Way.

Kessell said it is possible that the robberies might be connected, but it is improbable.

“We don’t know right now,” he said.

“The physical descriptions vary from event to event, but it is always an outside possibility,” he said.

The next step in the investigation is to re-examine the crime scene and to talk to witnesses who were in the vicinity of the store during the robbery, Kessel said.

“We’re going to revisit everything,” he said.

“We’ll re-interview the victim, and we’re still talking to neighborhood businesses and people that might have been in the area during the event,” he said.

Kessell said media coverage of crimes such as this often will help the investigation.

“We get calls after the event when the media starts circulating the story,” he said. “Hopefully, people might have their memory jogged.

Any individuals with information about the robbery may call the Ames Police Department at 239-5133.