WINSLOW — State and local police scoured central Maine Thursday for the man who robbed the Winslow Community Federal Credit Union at 12 Monument St.
No one was injured during the 9:50 a.m. robbery, which lasted less than a minute, police said. The robber, described as a white man in his 20s, escaped with an undisclosed amount of money, police said.
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Meanwhile, police in Waldo County confirmed that they were conferring with investigators in Winslow to see whether the case might be connected to the robbery of a credit union in Unity about two weeks ago.
At the Winslow credit union, which is adjacent to residential streets and St. John Catholic Church and school, the robber entered through a side door and placed what the teller described as an unusual, crocheted-looking bag on the counter in front of a teller, police said. Security camera video shows a black bag of unidentifiable material.
The man then said, “Give me all the cash in your drawer,” according to Winslow Police Chief Jeffrey Fenlason.
Seconds later, the man — described as 5-foot, 6-inches tall and weighing about 140 pounds — left through the same door with the money in his bag, Fenlason said. No one saw a weapon or heard any indication that the man had a weapon, according to Fenlason.
The robber wore a hooded sweatshirt with horizontal black and white stripes, light blue jeans, sunglasses and a dark baseball cap beneath the hood. According to a security camera image released by police, his sweatshirt was unzipped slightly, revealing a white shirt underneath.
Witnesses also took note of a unique feature: the man had nice, manicured-looking hands.
“They said he appeared to be well-groomed, clean cut,” Fenlason said.
Maine State Police, including a dog tracking team, aided in the manhunt. The FBI was also contacted.
Police didn’t know whether the robber fled on foot or in a vehicle. The state police tracking dog led authorities around the Lasalle and St. John streets area, but the dog never appeared to pinpoint the robber’s path beyond that neighborhood.
Police said a resident of nearby Lasalle Street reported seeing a suspicious car about the same time as the robbery. He described the car as a teal Pontiac Grand Prix with a black or red stripe, according to an all-points bulletin issued statewide. A man in his 20s or 30s, possibly wearing white, was seen getting into the passenger seat before the car headed north on Lasalle Street.
As of late Thursday afternoon, however, Fenlason said there had been no reported sightings of the car or the robber.
The credit union was closed following the robbery and was scheduled to reopen today, according to its answering message. Credit union officials could not be reached for comment.
As she was escorted by police out of the credit union Thursday morning, Winslow resident Sherril Bouchard said she had been meeting with a loan officer when the robbery happened. But she didn’t even realize anything had happened until it was all over and she didn’t see the robber.
“Someone came by and said, ‘We were robbed,'” Bouchard said. “It was all very calm, handled very well.”
Charles Pelletier, who lives across from the credit union on the corner of St. John and Lasalle streets, said he didn’t hear or see anything following the robbery until his mailman mentioned it to him. The mailman found out what was going on when he attempted to deliver the credit union’s mail and found it closed shortly after 10 a.m., Pelletier said.
“I’ve been a customer there for about 40 years and I’ve never heard of anything like this,” Pelletier said.
News of the robbery piqued the interest of authorities in Waldo County, who have been investigating a similar robbery at the Down East Credit Union in Unity on July 29. No one has been arrested in that case.
Upon hearing of the robbery Thursday morning, Waldo County Sheriff Scott Story said he immediately dispatched Detective Jason Bosco to Winslow to meet with police and compare notes. Bosco was first to arrive at the scene of the Unity robbery and is one of the case investigators.
Later in the day Thursday, authorities weren’t prepared to say the two robberies were connected.
The Unity credit union robbery happened at 2:32 p.m. when a white man described as about 5-feet, 6-inches tall and about 140 pounds handed a black bag to a teller at the branch on School Street. The man in that robbery did not display a weapon either. He sported facial hair, sunglasses, blue jeans, white shoes and a white hooded sweatshirt with “Montana” on the front and down the left sleeve and “89” on the front.
Scott Monroe — 861-9239
smonroe@centralmaine.com
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