Bank location sees fourth robbery

The intersection of North Kingshighway and Cape Rock Drive in Cape Girardeau has become a favorite with robbers.

A robbery of the Bank of America by an armed man Thursday was the second this year there and the fourth time a bank at the 800 N. Kingshighway location has been robbed since 1998.

This time, the man walked into the bank at 11:18 a.m., handed a teller a note demanding money, and escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash. No shots were fired. The man ran north on foot.

The bank also was robbed Jan. 12 by three masked men with guns. More than $10,000 was taken. The three men with a female accomplice were later arrested.

In 2000, a man leaped over the counter, grabbed money from a teller's drawer and ran out the rear door with a handful of cash. The robber's face was covered. He did not appear to be armed.

An earlier robbery occurred in 1998 at a NationsBank branch at the location. In that robbery, a man wearing a ski mask and brandishing a handgun escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash.

Only the robbery from January has been solved, police say.

FBI agent Mike McComas said it may be the location that makes this bank so popular with robbers.

"Who knows what goes through a robber's mind whenever he picks a target," McComas said. "It can be the flow of traffic, which makes leaving the area a little easier. It could be the location of the bank on the corner of two busy streets."

The FBI, Cape Girardeau police and other agencies are looking for a white man believed to be in his late 20s or early 30s, tall and thin, about 6 feet 3 inches tall. He was wearing a blue baseball cap, a gray hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans. He has blond hair and blue eyes.

The Bank of America put up a security fence after the January robbery. Even though the robber got away Thursday morning, McComas said the fence did delay his exit.

"The fence served a purpose," he said. "He tried to climb it, had to run around and go behind it."

McComas said that the FBI and police are working together to find the robber. McComas said it is possible the robber had a getaway car parked nearby.

Anyone who has any information is asked to call the Cape Girardeau Police at 335-6611 or the FBI at 335-2511.

lredeffer@semissourian.com

335-335-6611, extension 160