Bank robbed in daylight for 2nd time in two years

JERRY WOLKOWITZ A Manalapan patrolman speaks with corporate representatives from First Union Bank following a robbery at the Route 9 branch Feb. 1.

A lone suspect pulled off an afternoon bank robbery at the First Union Bank, Route 9 south and Tennent Road, Manalapan, at about 2:10 p.m. Feb. 1.

The heist marked the second time in less than two years that the bank has been the scene of a daylight robbery.

According to information provided by the Manalapan Police Department about Thursday’s incident, a white male entered the bank at about 2:10 p.m. and handed a note to a teller. Manalapan Police Capt. Michael Rumola said the suspect exhibited a handgun and received an undetermined amount of cash before fleeing.

The bank’s silent alarm notified police, and they responded.

"When the K-9 unit arrived, the dogs tracked the suspect within moments," Rumola said. "The dogs led police to the Towne Pointe shopping center (south of the bank on Route 9), where the suspect may have had a vehicle waiting."

No employees or customers were injured in the incident. The bank immediately closed for the remainder of the day, Rumola said.

FBI agents and members of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office’s Major Crime Unit also responded to the scene.

The white male suspect in the Feb. 1 robbery is described as wearing a red down-type jacket with black, possibly blue, shoulders and a baseball cap, with what may be described as a Dallas Cowboys inscription. He wore wrap-around sunglasses and had some facial hair growth around his chin.

Bank surveillance cameras caught the suspect on film and the film is being analyzed, authorities said.

"We are actively investigating the incident," Rumola said. "We are following all leads. This is not welcomed in our community."

Manalapan Police Detective Robert Fausak is leading an investigation of the incident. Anyone who may have witnessed the incident or may have information regarding the robbery is asked to call Manalapan police at (732) 446-4300; the FBI at (732) 741-0006; or the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office’s Major Crimes Unit at (732) 431-7160.

In the previous incident at this First Union branch, at 12:10 p.m. June 3, 1999 a man walked into the bank while other customers were in the building, according to a story published in the June 9, 1999 News Transcript. The man approached a teller and whispered to the woman that he had a gun.

An FBI agent said no gun was ever seen, nor was a note passed from the suspect to the bank employee. The agent said the teller placed cash — he declined to say how much — on the counter, which the man took before turning and leaving. The suspect was described as a young while male, unshaven, 5 feet 9 inches to 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing about 155 pounds.

On Friday, a spokesman in the FBI’s Shrewsbury office said no arrest has been made in that robbery.