Police search for man who robbed Catonsville bank

Baltimore County police are canvassing Catonsville for a man who robbed a Farmers & Commercial Bank branch on Frederick Avenue between Bloomsbury Avenue and Bishops Lane yesterday morning, police said.

At 9: 15 a.m., shortly after the bank opened at 9 a.m., a man entered the bank and demanded money from a teller. No customers were in the branch at the time. When the teller did not comply immediately, the man started shouting but did not threaten the teller or show a weapon, according to police.

The teller handed the man an unspecified amount of cash. He grabbed it and left the bank, said Lola Kayler, a Farmers & Commercial Bank security officer. "Everyone handled it very well," said Kayler.

Police said the teller did not hand the robber a "dye pack," a device designed to splash bright paint on the money and on robbers shortly after they leave.

"We got some pretty good shots of him on [video]tape," said Officer K. J. Busic.

The robber had alcohol on his breath, Busic said.

The FBI is also investigating the latest in a recent rash of bank robberies in the city and county. On Thursday, a Crestar bank branch on Frederick Avenue in Catonsville directly across the street from Farmers bank was robbed.

County police say they do not suspect a connection between the two crimes.

Pub Date: 3/16/97