Gunman walks away from bank heist

DINGMAN - The Wachovia Bank, Dingmans Ferry branch was robbed at gunpoint early Monday afternoon. The bank located at the intersection of state Route 739 and Log Tavern Road was held up by a lone gunman who got away on foot. The robber, described as a white blonde haired male, about 5’7” tall. wearing an olive green jacket and blue jeans, entered the bank displaying a hand gun. He approached one of the three tellers and demanded money. He left the bank with an undetermined amount of money in a brown bag, headed for the wooded area behind Gold Key Lake. A state police spokeperson said no shots were fired and no one was injured during the robbery. “I was in my car and saw him in the parking lot of the bank before he committed the robbery,”.said Lynn Wilklow a real estate agent for Wilkins Realty. Driving by the bank, Wilklow recalled, “I told my daughter Victoria, ‘he looks like a bank robber.’” A man, suspected to be the robber, was later spotted by two residents after he emerged from the woods into Gold Key Lake. Police responded and within a minutes there were three marked Pennsylvania State Police cars, three unmarked units, and a car from the district attorney’s office trying to locate the bank robber. Over half the development’s security force was out assisting the police in the search effort. The robbery took place at 12:40 p.m. and by 3 p.m. a state police helicopter appeared overhead, joining the search.. At that time of day all the school buses were bringing the children home from school. Gold Key Security kept the children at the bus unloading area and called parents to have them pick them up. An FBI agent in charge thanked Nancy Papaleo, the development’s security chief , for taking the initiative to protect the kids from any possible danger. The search went on into the evening as police cars cruised around the community using roof mounted searchlights, peering into driveways and wooded areas. The search ended after dark and as the Courier went to press, the robber remained at large. The police investigation is continuing. Trooper McCarthy, of the Blooming Grove Police Barracks is in charge of the investigation locally while the FBI is involved at the federal level. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the state police at 570-226-5718. Monday’s holdup was the third armed robbery at a state Route 739 bank in the past year and a half. The Wayne Bank branch in Lords Valley was robbed by a masked gunman on January 13 of this year, and the Wachovia branch at state Route 739 and Interstate Highway 84 was held up by a single black gunman on November 12 of 2004.