Shots fired in two Cincy-area banks
November 25, 2004
Cincinnati Enquirer
Robbers get away in two bank robberies
COLERAIN TWP. - Authorities are investigating two bank robberies Wednesday. In both cases, a lone robber fired a weapon inside the bank. No one was hurt in either robbery, police said.
A masked gunman fired two bullets inside First Financial Bank, 10174 Colerain Ave., at 9:26 a.m., according to the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office. One bullet lodged in a wall near the bank manager, said Steve Barnett, sheriff's spokesman. The second bullet pierced the ceiling.
The robber took an undisclosed amount of cash and fled south on Colerain Avenue in a black SUV-type vehicle to westbound Interstate 275. Cash from the robbery was found in the bank parking lot, leading authorities to believe the money was dropped after a dye pack exploded.
The suspect was described as light skinned; 5-feet-7; wearing a black leather jacket, dark clothing, black ski mask, ball cap and dark gloves.
Later Wednesday, a man with a black cloth covering his face fired one shot as he robbed the U.S. Bank at 540 Main St. in Hamilton at 1:38 p.m., police said. The robber ran away carrying a green bag with an undisclosed amount of cash. He was described as a white male 6 feet tall and in his late 20s or early 30s.
Commentary:
Some banks continue to operate under the "conventional wisdom" that by posting "no-guns" signs they somehow keep their bank "safe". They use this same "wisdom" when an armed criminal walks in the door, believing that if they just give a criminal what he wants, he won't hurt anyone.
The first bit of wisdom, about "no-guns" signs and safety, has already been proven wrong. The day will come when the non-resistance part will also be proven wrong, and a "no-guns" bank will have to suffer injured (or worse) employees and customers as a result.
How much the better if future bank robbery stories in Ohio could read like this?:
- The Courier-Journal, Louisville, KY
The robber fraternity apparently has failed to spread the word among its members that hitting the Bank of Clarkson, Kentucky, when banker Clyde Bratcher is on duty can be a fatal mistake. Bratcher was in his office one Tuesday afternoon when a man vaulted over the bank counter and declared, "This is a robbery!" Bratcher charged to the rescue, firing twice with a handgun whose shots fatally struck the bandit in the chest. He had protected the bank's assets in a similar manner only three years earlier by dispatching yet another would-be crook who walked into the bank wielding a rifle and wearing a stocking on his head. Bratcher's grandfather also named Clyde Bratcher was a bank president when, in 1958, he ran off three bandits, pointing at them with a gun whose 35-year old cartridges failed to fire.
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