THREE incidents involving a man carrying a knife are being linked by police.
Officers received a report of a robbery on Stanhope Street in Newcastle between 11.40pm and 11.45pm on Tuesday when a man wearing dark clothing approached a cyclist and told him to hand over his bike.
The victim refused but the suspect, whose face was covered, grabbed his headphones and fled.
At 11.20pm police were called to say a group of men were in the area and one of them had a knife.
The minutes later there was an attempted robbery on nearby Walter Terrace in which a man was threatened with a knife and asked for property but escaped uninjured.
The suspect is described as white, around 6ft 2ins tall and with a local accent. He was said to have been wearing a mask, a hooded top and grey jogging bottoms.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101.
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