Masked robber fires shotgun inside bank

Ohio is one of the highest ranking bank robbery states in the nation. Meanwhile, someone in Hamilton County is more worried more about whether or not a concealed hangun license (CHL) -holder can be prevented from carrying a gun while traveling through a bank’s drive-thru night deposit or ATM, if the bank specifies that firearms are not allowed on the premises.

Feb. 14, 2004
Akron Beacon Journal

Gunman escapes after National City heist in Green

GREEN - Police and the FBI were looking for a gunman who robbed a National City Bank branch Friday morning after firing a sawed-off shotgun into the bank's ceiling.

Summit County Sheriff's Capt. Larry Momchilov said no one was injured in the robbery, but paramedics treated one female customer inside the bank for anxiety.

Click on the "Read More..." link below for more.

Momchilov described the gunman as a white male in his 20s, about 5-foot-6 or 5-foot-7 and weighing about 160 pounds. He said the man wore a ski mask and a forest green rain suit.

He said the holdup occurred about 10:30 a.m. at the National City Bank branch at 3557 S. Arlington Road in Green.

The robber entered the bank carrying a duffel bag and a sawed-off shotgun and immediately fired the weapon into the ceiling, Momchilov said. After ordering the bank tellers to empty their cash drawers into the bag, he fled in a light blue, late-model Honda Accord, heading north on Arlington Road at high speed, the captain said.

He said witnesses did not report seeing any license plates on the vehicle.

Reviews of the bank's security cameras showed the man's shotgun had a pistol grip and a red laser light scope, Momchilov said.

``You don't run into that type of weapon very often. It can be as intimidating as all get-out,'' he said.

He described the robber as brazen.

"He wasn't scared. He was very controlled. He looked like he had done something like this before,'' Momchilov said.

Momchilov asked anyone with information about the robbery to call the sheriff's office at 330-643-2181 or the FBI at 216-522-1400.