Published: November 06, 2009 10:50 pm      

Police seek female bank robber

SOMERSET — Borough police continue to search for the woman who robbed 1st Summit Bank on Thursday.

The robber made off with an undisclosed amount of money from the bank’s North Center Avenue branch.

The woman showed no weapon when she entered the bank at 3:33 p.m. She approached the counter, “conveyed to a teller that she was robbing the bank” and made reference to having a gun, police said.

No employees or customers were injured.

The woman fled on foot, heading north on North Center Avenue, but bank employees lost sight of her when she turned onto a side street.

The bank is less than a half-mile from the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s Somerset interchange.

“If you’re looking for a bank to rob, you get off the turnpike and there it is,” police Chief Randy Cox said.

The robber made little attempt to hide her face, which Cox said was odd.

It was the first bank robbery in the borough since he became police chief five years ago.

Cox declined to disclose details of the investigation.

But he did say that bank robbery is risky business, with nearly nine of every 10 such incidents resulting in an arrest.

“The risk is much higher and the penalties are greater,” Cox aid.

If convicted, the robber would face a prison sentence of up to 25 years, the police chief said.

The suspect is described as a heavy-set white female, possibly with short red hair.

She was wearing black-framed glasses, a dark-colored waist-length hooded jacket, blue jeans and tennis shoes.

Anyone with information on the robbery may contact borough police at 445-4596 or the Somerset County dispatch center at 445-1525.