Madison Police Department’s SWAT team arrested three men early Monday morning in connection to a series of armed robberies taking place at several taverns over the last few weeks.

Police said these suspects are not connected to the recent string of robberies that have taken place downtown over the last month.

“As far as what we know of these three, they are in no way connected to the other ones, the individual robberies we have seen in the Regent Street corridor,” Madison police Lt. Carl Strasburg said.

John J. Olson, 28, his uncle John A. Olson, 36, and Daniel Rymer, 27, have been tentatively charged with armed robbery.

The arrest came as a result of investigations into armed robberies occurring last week at Bailey’s Bar in the town of Blooming Grove and Packers Inn on Cottage Grove Road in Madison.

Strasburg said police had narrowed in on the two younger men as suspects in last week’s robberies.

During the investigation, Strasburg said police were able to trace property from one of the victims to an address on the 800 block of Brandie Road on Madison’s east side. He could not provide further details on what this evidence was.

The arrest took place just after the men were allegedly involved in their third armed robbery of the month.

As the SWAT team was in place to conduct the search warrant at the Brandie Road location, Strasburg said a car pulled into the driveway, which they learned was involved with an armed robbery at the Kountry Keg Tavern in the Town of Burke.

“As time had it, it was when we were in place to execute search warrant,” Strasburg said, adding the Kountry Keg robbery took place at 1:55 a.m.

The Olsons were arrested at the Brandie Road location, and just shortly after, Rymer was arrested at a residence on the 700 block of Herndon Drive with a second search warrant.

Strasburg said the men were taken into custody without resistance, and no one involved was injured.

MPD spokesperson Joel DeSpain said the men were all Caucasian and therefore are most likely not connected to the downtown robberies currently under investigation.

Armed robberies in the Madison area have been increasing recently, Madison Police Chief Noble Wray said.

“It is a pattern that we have noticed here, that has picked up in the last several months,” Wray said.

However, there was a similar pattern two years ago, Wray said.

“There’s peaks and valleys,” Wray said. “I’m not sure at this particular time, what issue this is related to.”

Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney, whose department helped in the investigation, said the increase in crime is not only occurring in downtown Madison. “This is just one more example of the outstanding police work and cooperation that goes on every day between deputies in the Dane County Sheriff’s office and the men and women at the Madison Police Department,” Mahoney said.

Mahoney said officials hope to release further details later this week.