Police believe they have arrested the knife-wielding bandit responsible for slashing a teenage clerk during a recent string of violent holdups.

The suspect, Andrew Stephen Johns, 21, was captured Tuesday in Penn Township. He was free on bail after Manheim Borough and Warwick Township police had charged him in April with allegedly committing robberies in 2008.

Johns is accused of committing at least six robberies since September, including four in the past three weeks.

In addition to slashing a clerk during one robbery, he held a knife to a woman's throat during another.

Investigators said police in at least four townships will be filing robbery charges for crimes that happened between May 27 and Sunday.

State police filed charges Wednesday for a May 27 holdup in Elizabeth Township. Departments in Manheim Township, West Earl and East Lampeter are expected to follow suit.

Most recently, Johns is accused of targeting a Turkey Hill on Route 462 Sunday and a pair of Oregon Pike stores during a two-day period last week.

On Sunday night, he allegedly robbed the Turkey Hill at 2000 Lincoln Highway East and fled with cash. The clerk was not hurt.

However, two employees were injured during robberies on June 10 and June 12. A teenage clerk at Hess Express at Oregon Pike and Oregon Road was cut during the June 10 heist. The robber fled with cash and cigarettes.

Two nights later, about the same time, a bandit used force during a knifepoint robbery at Sonic Drive-In at 4247 Oregon Pike.

Those clerks were not seriously hurt.

The most violent robbery happened May 27 at a Turkey Hill Market near Brickerville. In that case, a masked man grabbed a 28-year-old clerk from behind and held a blade to her throat while demanding she open the register. He fled with about $70 in cash and cigarettes, police reported.

State police filed aggravated assault, robbery and reckless endangerment charges against Johns for allegedly committing that robbery.

Johns, who had been free on bail since April 6, also was on probation. A bench warrant was issued earlier this month after he skipped a preliminary hearing.

Detectives from three stations and state police troopers took Johns into custody at his home without incident.

E-mail: bhambright@lnpnews.com