WINSLOW — State and local police continue to search for a man who robbed the Winslow Community Federal Credit Union at 12 Monument St. this morning.

No one was injured during the robbery, which happened at 9:50 a.m. today and was over less than a minute later, police said. The robber, described as a white man in his 20s, escaped with an undisclosed amount of money, police said.

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 the St. John Catholic Church and school, the robber entered a side door and approached a teller, police said. He then placed what the teller described as an unusual, crocheted-looking bag on the counter, police said, although security camera video appears to show a black bag of unknown 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 and heard any indication that the man had a weapon, according to Fenlason.

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The suspect 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 video still image released by police, the suspect’s 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 troopers soon arrived to aid in the manhunt, including a K-9 tracking team. The FBI was also contacted.

Immediately following the robbery, police didn’t know whether the suspect had fled on foot or in a vehicle. The state police tracking dog led authorities around the Lasalle Street and St. John Street area, but the K-9 never appeared to pinpoint the suspect’s path beyond that neighborhood.

A possible lead in the case came when police spoke with a resident of nearby Lasalle Street who 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 left, heading north on Lasalle Street.

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As of about 4 p.m., however, Fenlason said there had been no reported sightings of the suspect vehicle or the robber.

The credit union was closed following the robbery and was scheduled to reopen Friday, according to its answering message. Credit union officials could not be returned for comment.

As she was escorted out of the credit union Thursday morning, Winslow resident Sherril Bouchard said she had been meeting with a loan officer when the robbery occurred. But she didn’t even realize anything had happened until it was all over and she didn’t even see the suspect.

“Someone came by and said, “We were robbed,’” Bouchard said. “It was all very calm, handled very well.”

Charles Pelletier, who lives right 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.

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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. A suspect has not been charged in that case.

Upon hearing of the robbery this 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.

“Certainly, we’re interested in something of a similar nature,” Story said.

But by this afternoon, authorities weren’t prepared to say whether the two robberies were connected.

The Unity credit union robbery occurred at 2:32 p.m. when a white man described as about 5-feet, 6-inches tall and about 140 pounds entered the branch office on School Street and handed a black bag to a teller. The man did not display a weapon in that robbery, 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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