Robberies Could Be Linked; Reward Offered By Bank

Falls Township Police and the FBI say they are nearly certain the April 12 and Thursday robberies of the PNC Bank were committed by the same silver handgun carrying man.

Authorities are looking into the possibility the same suspect is connected to other armed robberies.

Lt. Todd Pletnick said Friday that detectives were looking to see if the a string of 7-Eleven robberies that took place in March have a connection to the bank robberies.

Two Bristol Township 7-Eleven stores were robbed at knifepoint by two black males wearing masks in the predawn hours on March 27, police said. The robberies happened just minutes apart.

A week before the Bristol Township robberies, the 7-Eleven on 8000 block of Mill Creek Road in Falls Township was robbed by two black males, one of whom displayed a knife, police said.

In early March, according to police, the 7-Eleven on West Trenton Avenue, just a short distance from the PNC Bank, in Falls was robbed by suspect wearing a mask and brandishing a silver handgun.

“We often work with other townships to check on these cases,” Pletnick said. As of Friday afternoon, police did not reveal whether they have concrete evidence to link any of the 7-Eleven robberies and the bank robberies.

Police do know the suspect in both PNC Bank robberies was wearing  a similar outfit, including a cloth covering their face in a similar matter, and the descriptions match almost perfectly. In both cases, the suspect fled in the direction of the nearby Lincoln Arms Apartments, where officers recovered clothing worn by the suspect,  Pletnick said.

According to the FBI, the suspect in Thursday’s robbery was last seen fleeing heading east on West Trenton Avenue on foot.

The man walked in the bank at 3:40 p.m., displayed a silver handgun and asked for $100 bills and no dye pack, police and the FBI said. He then demanded the teller give all the $50 bills.

Pletnick said PNC Bank announced Friday they are offering a $10,000 reward for the capture and conviction of the suspect who robbed their bank branch twice in a month.

The robbery and attempted robbery of two other banks on West Trenton Road in Falls and Morrisville recently yielded in the arrest of a Trenton, N.J. man, police said.

Investigators asked anyone with information on the bank robberies to call Falls Township police at 215-302-3308 or the FBI at 215-641-8910.

Related:

• Police Look for PNC Bank Robber
• Falls Township PNC Bank Robbed
• 2 Stores Robbed Wednesday; 1 Hit Last Week