October 17, 2004
Columbus Dispatch

Robbery trend worries officials

It’s not just the increase in bank robberies this year across central Ohio that has officials concerned.

It’s how the heists are being carried out.

There have been 95 robberies so far this year in and around Columbus, compared with 64 for the same period last year, according to the FBI.

"Typically (80 percent) are nice and quiet where notes are passed," said FBI agent Harry Trombitas. "Hardly anyone but the teller and person passing the note know it’s being robbed."

The other 20 percent are what agents have dubbed "takeover robberies," during which thieves take command of a building and threaten employees and customers with guns or the threat of guns, he said.

"What I’ve seen in the last six months has been almost a complete reversal in the number of ‘note’ and ‘takeover’ robberies," Trombitas said.

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On October 15, 2004, the Mansfield News Journal reported that Mansfield police are investigating an armed robbery at yet another business on OFCC's Do Not Patronize While Armed database.

The newspaper report says a 26-year-old woman at BP Duke & Duchess, 595 S. Main St., told police a man walked into the store at 6:17 a.m. He pulled out a gun and demanded money, police said.

The man fled the store with an undetermined amount of cash, and is still at large.