Downtown Cedar Rapids bank branch robbed

CEDAR RAPIDS - Police called it a bank robbery with a twist.

Someone held up the Hills Bank and Trust Branch at 240 Third Avenue S.E. on Friday morning.  It's the third robbery of a Cedar Rapids financial institution in just the last two weeks.

But this time, Cedar Rapids authorities are looking for a much-older-than-normal suspect.

The suspect who robbed the bank Friday was described as a white male with a thin build.  But the real unusual part is the age.  Police said witnesses estimated he was 60 to 70 years old.  Police said another unusual aspect of this robbery is it happened at one of the busiest downtown intersections in Cedar Rapids with potentially many witnesses nearby.  But that, so far, hasn't produced a suspect.

In fact, Eric Gallagher said he was standing just outside the bank on a break and didn't know a thing was going on until  squad cars appeared.

“We were just out there having a conversation and all of a sudden we see squad cars pull up and we had just been in the same area he must have come in,” Gallagher said.

Investigators said the robber walked in and handed a teller a note but didn't display a weapon.  He was last seen in the central atrium area of the downtown Armstrong Centre.  Police searched the skywalk system and even put squad cars at various intersections to see if the robber would reappear.  Initially, the first descriptions said the robber was wearing camouflage shorts.

A construction worker across the street from the bank was wearing shorts like that and got a visit from officers.

Jason Eden said “they wanted to know if I'd been over there and I'd actually come out of there (minutes before) so initially matching the description was a surprise.”

Police later changed the clothing description to someone with khaki shorts and a dark sweat shirt.

Police said the photo of the robber who held up another Cedar Rapids Hills Bank last Friday was completely different-so there's likely no connection.  Someone held up a credit union office two weeks ago.  Police have made two arrests in that case.

GALLERY: Bank robbery scene

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