WATERVILLE — A masked man with a weapon robbed the Waterville Savings Bank of Maine on Upper Main Street Wednesday afternoon, making off with a bag full of money.

It was the third bank robbery in Waterville in eight weeks and second in 48 hours.

Additional Photos

FINGERPRINTING: Waterville police Detective David Caron dusts the door of the Savings Bank of Maine for fingerprints shortly after an armed robbery on Wednesday at the Upper Main Street bank. It was the third bank robbery in eight weeks in Waterville, and the city’s second such robbery in the last 48 hours. Staff photo by David Leaming

ROBBERY: Police are looking for the man in this security camera photo who robbed the Savings Bank of Maine in Waterville on Wednesday afternoon. Contributed photo

Deputy Police Chief Charles Rumsey said the robber pulled his car across the front door of the bank, approached a female teller and demanded money. He put the undisclosed amount of money in a paper bag and drove off toward downtown.

“He was in and out of the bank within less than a minute,” Rumsey said. “We had units on scene and in this area also within a minute, so we were on top of it.”

No one was injured.

The robbery was reported at 3:51 p.m. at the bank, which is next to Wendy’s restaurant and in the same single-story, vinyl-sided building that houses Colortyme, a rent-to-own business.

Rumsey said the robber is described as a white male, six feet tall and of medium build. He was wearing gloves, a face mask, a light-colored hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans. Rumsey said police are not yet releasing the make or model of the vehicle used in the robbery or what type of weapon was used.

“We’re still gathering all the details. It’s still a very young investigation,” he said. “We’re in hopes that we’re going to have a rapidly unfolding investigation and we may be able to pursue some leads, so we’re going to withhold a couple of details of what happened.”

Police never got a look at the vehicle, but witnesses gave them a good description of it, he said.

Rumsey said the robbery was the sixth bank robbery in central Maine in recent weeks. On Monday, William Bruce Adamchak, 48, of 53 Western Ave., was arrested on charges that he robbed Bank of America on Main Street after threatening a teller with a bomb.

But there was no bomb, police said, and Adamchak was caught quickly thanks to four bystanders who helped track and catch him. Adamchak faces felony charges of robbery, terrorizing and theft. He made his initial court appearance Wednesday and was ordered held on $500,000 bail. He remains at the Kennebec County Jail in Augusta.

On Sept. 22, the HealthFirst Federal Credit Union at 9 Quarry Road was robbed by a man with a knife . No one was injured during that robbery next to MaineGeneral Medical Center’s Thayer Campus on North Street.

The Down East Credit Union in Unity was robbed July 29; the Winslow Community Federal Credit Union on Monument Street in Winslow was robbed Aug. 11; and the Bangor Savings Bank on Capitol Street in Augusta was robbed Aug. 22.

Police have not yet arrested anyone in connection with those cases.

Rumsey said investigators are looking at the robbery of the Quarry Road credit union and Wednesday’s armed robbery as possibly being related.

“It’s telling that there is such a high level of abuse of prescription drugs in central Maine at this time and bank robberies are on the rise,” he said.

Rumsey said the impact of violent crime on the community is not to be taken lightly.

“A lot of people don’t understand how really traumatic it is for people inside these banks,” he said. “A lot of people may think ‘Oh, this is a victimless crime — the only people being victimized is big business; there’s insurance covering the banks losses.’

“What you have to realize is that these tellers inside the banks are very traumatized. They had somebody brandish a weapon in a situation they perceive as being life-threatening to them and it scares them.”

Doug Harlow — 612-2367

dharlow@centralmaine.com

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