WASHINGTON (AP) — Authorities are investigating a series of taxicab robberies in northeast Washington and say they may be related.

Police say the first robbery happened about 1:25 a.m. Wednesday as a cab driver was dropping off a passenger at Third Street and Rhode Island Avenue. Authorities say the passenger robbed the driver of a phone and cash before fleeing toward Bryant Street.

At about 10:30 p.m., a cab driver was robbed in the 600-block of Rhode Island Avenue. Police say the passenger took a phone and ear piece and fled north on the Metropolitan Bike Trail.

And at 12:55 a.m. Thursday, police say a passenger tried to rob a cab driver at Third and Evarts streets. Authorities say the cab driver continued driving and then slowed down, and the passenger got out without taking anything.

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