Swanton PoliceSwanton, Vermont - November 28, 2011
For the second time in less than a week a Vermont bank was held up -- this time in Franklin County. The Peoples United Bank in downtown Swanton was held up late Monday morning. No one was hurt, but the robber's getaway was very unusual.
Surveillance video shows the suspected bank robber moments before he held up the People's United Bank on Canada Street in Swanton just after 11 a.m.
"A lone male entered the bank, passing a note to the teller, demanding money," said Swanton Police Chief Leonard Stell. "No weapons were displayed... The teller complied, gave the robber some money."
After grabbing the cash, police say the robber exited the bank through the front door and jumped on a red bicycle to get away.
Sean Lisby works at an auto parts store next door to the bank. The business's surveillance video captured the getaway. "Right here, he knows the camera is there," Lisby said. "I cant believe he rode right behind two businesses right there, with all the cars and people right there to see him."
Police say the high foot traffic area made it hard for a police K-9 to track the robber very far, but they say many people witnessed the get away and may not have even realized it.
"Still interviewing as many people as we can, that were on the street at that time, hoping they could give us more specific location and direction," Chief Stell said.
The suspect is described as a white male in his late 20s, about five feet - ten inches tall with a medium build. He was wearing a black and grey North Face vest with a black t-shirt and a white sweatshirt underneath. He was also wearing blue jeans and a yellow striped winter hat.
Lisby hopes police catch the bank robber before he strikes again. "I don't want to be robbed either, and if the store next to us is getting robbed, I don't want to be the next one," he said.
Police do not believe this is the same bank robber that held up the Peoples United Bank in South Burlington last Tuesday.
