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MONROE: PNC Bank bandit sought

Suspect hit two branches in one day

By Charles W. Kim, Managing Editor
 Local and federal law enforcement agencies are offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a bank robber that struck the area last week.
   According to police, a man described as a white male, possibly Hispanic, with a medium build, entered the PNC branch in the Monroe Township Stop&Shop around 5 p.m. May 23 and handed a teller a note.
   Police say the man, who is about 5-feet, 10-inches tall, and wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt with an “ECKO”logo on the front and a red Philadelphia Phillies baseball cap, then made off with an undisclosed amount of cash.
   Police said about an hour later, the same man, this time with the sweatshirt turned inside-out, entered the PNC branch in the Route 27 Stop&Shop in Franklin Park and gave that teller a note demanding money.
   The teller complied and turned over an undisclosed amount of money.
   He then fled the store on foot in an unknown direction.
   Franklin Township police responded to the scene with investigators from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit, according to police.
   Police were able to capture still images of the suspect form both store’s video systems.
   Authorities are asking anyone with information to contact the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Squad at 908-231-7100, the Franklin Township Police Department at 732-873-5533, the Federal Bureau of Investigation Newark Field Office at 973-792-3000, or the Somerset County Crime Stoppers’ Tip Line at 1-888-577-TIPS (8477) or online at www.888577tips.org or www.scpo.net and click on either “Crime Stoppers” or “TIPS HOTLINE”. All calls are confidential, police said.