An unarmed man robbed the Bar Harbor Bank & Trust branch on Route 3 in South China on Thursday afternoon, allegedly taking an undisclosed amount of cash and fleeing north.
Police described the suspect as a white male, approximately 5 feet 3 inches, with dark hair, dark eyebrows and a slim build. The suspect wore a dark gray longsleeve shirt, dark blue jeans, a blue bandanna, black sunglasses, dark sneakers and black-and-white baseball hat with a red bill. In one screen shot from surveillance video, the suspect is seen standing inside the bank at 2:24 p.m. with one hand on the counter, and in another shot he is seen running just outside the bank’s exit.
The suspect did not display a weapon, according to Trooper Jeremiah Wesbrock, who was aiding the investigation at the bank shortly after the robbery. He said he believed the suspect fled north behind the bank. A later statement from Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety, stated that police believe he drove away in a nearby vehicle.
Wesbrock said he could not answer whether the suspect said anything while inside the bank.
McCausland said in his statement that there were no customers inside the bank, but there were three employees working at the time.
A Morning Sentinel reporter saw a woman escort two young children, a boy and a girl, from the bank after 3 p.m. and take them to a vehicle that had just pulled up. The children got into the vehicle, which then drove away. The woman returned to the bank. Wesbrock said he could not say whether the two children were inside the bank at the time of the robbery. However, troopers were not allowing the public to come inside the bank after the crime.
Troopers from Troops C and D, game wardens and forest rangers responded to the robbery immediately, later assisted by an officer from the China Police Department. Troopers took a police dog behind the bank where police thought the suspect had fled. A Maine Forest Service helicopter could be seen above the bank helping in the search.
A clerk at the Post Office next to the bank said she did not see or hear anything related to the robbery. She said she didn’t know a robbery had happened, but said mostly women work as clerks in the bank. The workers at Back’s Dairy Bar next to the post office said they were serving several customers at the time of the robbery and didn’t see the suspect.
The troopers have several leads, McCausland said, and are following up on them.
He asked that if anyone recognizes the suspect involved or has any information regarding the robbery to call State Police in Augusta at 624-7076.
Emily Higginbotham — 861-9239
ehigginbotham@centralmaine.com
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