Police: Robberies may be connected
State police said the man who robbed a Vanderbilt bank last weekend also could be responsible for the robbery Thursday at the Parkvale Savings bank in Chalk Hill. “It appears those robberies are connected, and it appears that there may be others,” Trooper George Mrosko said Friday.
Mrosko said the other robberies are within the region, but declined to be more specific. As of Friday evening, he said police, with the assistance of the FBI, were continuing to investigate.
Surveillance photos from both robberies show a man with a thin build and an angular face standing at tellers’ counters.
The first robbery occurred at the Scottdale Bank & Trust Co. in Vanderbilt around 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 13. The Chalk Hill bank robbery occurred about 10:15 a.m.
In both instances, men with similar physical descriptions and clothing held up the banks.
Police also noted that in both cases the robber did not use a weapon, nor did he threaten to use one. The suspect also arrived and then left the bank on foot.
Mrosko described the Parkvale robber as a white man between 5 feet 7 inches and 5 feet 10 inches tall. The man was wearing blue jeans, a Tommy Hilfiger fleece pullover, a white bandana and sunglasses, according to the description.
During the Parkvale robbery, a bank teller gave the suspect an unspecified amount of cash from her teller’s drawer, and the suspect fled east, Mrosko said.
In the Vanderbilt robbery, Trooper John S. Krause stated in a press release that the suspect walked up to the counter at the 123 Main St. bank carrying a newspaper and “demanded the teller turn over the money to him.”
Police said the suspect placed the money into the newspaper, folded it and fled the bank on foot.
Police described the suspect as a white man between 20 and 30 years old, with a thin build and acne on his face and no facial hair.
Krause said the man was wearing blue jeans, a Henley long-sleeved shirt, sunglasses and a knit cap.
Anyone with information on either robbery is asked to call state police in Uniontown at 724-439-7111.