Unity Bank Robbed For The Second Time

UPDATED: The Unity bank on Mountain Ave. was robbed Friday afternoon. The same branch was robbed in April; police believe the same man committed both robberies.

Police said that shortly before 2 p.m., a black male entered the bank, which was occupied by three employees and no customers. According to a police report, he approached a teller window and demanded money while keeping one hand underneath his shirt as if he was holding onto the grip of a handgun that was in his waistband. According to emergency communications, he fled from the bank carrying a undisclosed amount of money in a paper bag.

Springfield police Detective Judd Levenson told Patch that bank employees recognized the man from the previous robbery. No one was hurt in the incident.

Local police and the FBI are currently investigating the robbery by interviewing employees and studying video camera footage from nearby businesses. The man was photographed by a nearby deli during last month's robbery.

The man, who reportely, was described as male with a dark complexion, between 6' and 6'2", and 160 to 180 pounds, with a scruffy, salt-and-pepper beard. He wore a long, black untucked t-shirt, blue jeans, a black baseball hat with an blue logo on the front and wore clear eyeglasses with dark colored frames. There is currently no description for his motor vehicle.

The April robbery of the Springfield branch of the Unity Bank came a half an hour after a Scotch Plains branch of the same bank was robbed. The same man, police believe, committed both robberies.