Police: Suspect In Greenwich Robberies Hits Two Banks In Fairfield

FAIRFIELD, Conn. - In less than a half-hour Thursday afternoon, a man robbed two Fairfield bank branches, a Bank of America and a Chase Bank, taking an unknown amount of cash, police said.

The suspect is wearing a blue shirt in the Bank of America robbery, at left, but changed into a red shirt to rob the Chase Bank a few minutes later, Fairfield police said.
Photo Credit: *Fairfield Police Department*

The Chase Bank branch at 340 Grasmere Ave., in a strip mall with a CVS, was the second bank robbed Thursday in Fairfield.
Photo Credit: *Alissa Smith*

This is the suspect in the Thursday robbery of Chase Bank in Fairfield. He was captured on surveillance video.
Photo Credit: *Fairfield Police Department*

The Westport Police Department's K-9 officer is on the scene of the Thursday bank robbery in Fairfield.
Photo Credit: *Alissa Smith*

by Alissa Smith

09/12/2013 5:20 p.m.

The man is believed to be the same one involved in two similar bank robberies in Greenwich and one in New Jersey, Fairfield Police Sgt. Sue Lussier said. Fairfield police were working with the FBI in the investigation, she said.

Officers responded to a call from the Bank of America branch on Kings Highway Cutoff at about 3:45 p.m. for a robbery, police said. A witness told police that a Hispanic man in his 30s wearing a blue shirt and white baseball hat entered the bank, approached a teller with a piece of paper and demanded money, police said. The ma then fled on foot in an unknown direction.

While officers were on the scene, a call came from the Chase Bank branch on Grasmere Avenue at 4:10 p.m., reporting a robbery in a similar fashion, police said.

Security video revealed a Hispanic man wearing a red shirt, police said. But Lussier said investigators were able to positively identify him as the same man from the Bank of America robbery due to his shoes.

Officers were told that the suspect ran toward the Fairfield Metro Train Station, police said. Officers, along with K-9 units, conducted a search on foot.

The Westport K-9 unit was called in to assist and unsuccessfully attempted to locate the suspect. Police said they now believe he had a car to assist in fleeing the scenes.

And because the suspect was believed to have fled toward the train station, Fairfield police notified Metro-North and requested that it slow or stop trains during the search. The foot search was called off at about 5 p.m., and the request was lifted. It did cause some train delays in the area.

No gun or show of force was displayed in either robbery, police said.

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