Update, 9 a.m. Wednesday:
The FBI says an unnamed suspect has been arrested in a recent string of Anchorage credit-union robberies.
Bureau spokeswoman Chloe Martin said Wednesday morning that nothing further about the suspect, who was arrested Sunday by law enforcement, was yet available.
Original story:
Anchorage-based FBI agents and police are seeking a “serial bank robber,” who has robbed three local credit union branches in the past month.
The man “should be considered armed and dangerous,” said an FBI statement Thursday.
“We want to take every precaution when it comes to public safety,” FBI spokeswoman Chloe Martin said.
The FBI said the string of robberies began Sept. 23 at a Credit Union 1 branch on Eureka Street in Midtown. The FBI says the suspect then robbed a Global Credit Union branch on Oct. 7 near the Abbott Road-Dimond Boulevard curve. On Wednesday, the agency says, he robbed another one of the credit union’s branches, in the Fred Meyer grocery store off Abbott. All three robberies happened in the late morning or early afternoon.
Martin said the man used the same methods to obtain money.
“We’re seeing that this individual allegedly presented a note demanding money to a bank employee, and in that process, he also stated that he had a weapon,” Martin said.
In surveillance video, the man is wearing different pieces of apparel and outerwear in all three robberies. He was also seen leaving each robbery by different methods, riding a bicycle away from the Credit Union 1 robbery and walking north toward Abbott on Wednesday. In the Oct. 7 robbery, Martin said, he drove away in a stolen vehicle that was later recovered by police.The suspect is described as standing about 5 feet, 5 inches tall with black hair and brown eyes, and weighing about 155 pounds. The FBI asks that anyone with information on his identity or whereabouts call its Anchorage office at 907-276-4441, or submit a tip online through the bureau’s website.
Chris Klint is a web producer and breaking news reporter at Alaska Public Media. Reach him at cklint@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Chris here.
