For the second time within two weeks, a man robbed a Middletown homeowner after claiming he ran out of gas, according to police.

Just before 9 p.m. Monday, a white male wearing a black jacket with a hood approached the rear door of a couple that lives on Church Avenue. He told the husband who answered the door that he ran out of gas and needed to make a phone call.

“It sounds very similar to the one on Omaha, so it could be connected to that,” said Middletown police Lt. Scott Reeve.

Once inside the home on Church, the man pulled out a black handgun, demanding the wife’s purse and all of the house phones.

As the woman was retrieving her purse, she told police the assailant pushed her onto the couch and fled with the home’s three cordless phone receivers.

The woman told police that the assailant did not grab her purse or any other items of value in the home.

Just before 11 p.m. on Dec. 1, a man knocked on a door on Omaha Street stating he ran out of gas. After retrieving a gas can from the garage, the man displayed a handgun and ordered her back inside her home.

The man demanded money and jewelry and left with several pieces of jewelry and her house phones.

While the assailant’s description wasn’t known Monday morning, the man in the Dec. 1 home invasion was described as “clean-cut” white man in his 20s with dark hair and pockmarks on his right cheek.

Reeve said most robberies include people seeking assistance, especially late at night. If anyone is suspiciously asking for help looking for a dog, to use a phone or because they’re out of gas, call the police, he said.

Reeve did not say if Monday’s home invasion was targeted, but said he believed the Dec. 1 incident was targeted.

Anyone with information should call Detective Steve Winters at (513) 425-7786 regarding the Dec. 1 home invasion and Detective Ken Rogers at (513) 425-7741 regarding Monday’s home invasion.