Pipe Bomb Bank Robber Strikes Again
WINTHROP (CBS) – The so-called "pipe bomb bandit" struck again for the second time in two days Friday.
Police say he walked into the Bank of America on Bartlett Road in Winthrop just after 9:30 a.m., approached a teller and demanded money.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens reports
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"He showed the teller a device that was consistent with a pipe bomb, took the money and left the bank," Winthrop police Chief Terence Delehanty told WBZ NewsRadio 1030. Delehanty said the suspect put the object back in his jacket before fleeing.
The State Police bomb squad was then called in.
"They did a search of the area in case the device was discharged outside. No device was found. The neighborhood is safe," Delehanty said.
"(He's a) 40-to-45 year-old white male, wearing a white hat with an emblem in the middle of the hat, a leather jacket and a dark scarf."
WBZ-TV's Bill Shields reports
Moments before the robbery, Lorraine Mitchell was in her bakery, and looked out the window, and saw a man in a car. "I didn't think anything of it at the time," she says, "but he got out of his car, and walked toward the bank. A few minutes later, he was back and drove off. Seconds later, I heard police sirens and saw all the cruisers."
And locals say the robber must be from the area. "Winthrop only has two ways in and out," said one passerby, "and to come into the town center? Well, he has to know the streets."
The bank released surveillance photos of the man, hoping to generate some leads.
Police say he fits the description of the man who robbed an East Boston Savings Bank in Everett Thursday with a fake pipe bomb.
No one was hurt in either incident.
In both cases, the bandit left a block in the door to keep it open in the event the teller tried to hit a button and lock everyone inside the bank.
WBZ-TV's Bill Shields contributed to this report.
