News

Another robbery strikes city bank

Amcore Bank on East Washington Avenue was robbed for the second time in three months Wednesday evening.

The suspect, a white male in his 20s, displayed a weapon to the teller and made off with an undisclosed amount of money. No injuries were reported as a result of the robbery.

The same bank was also robbed Dec. 27 last year.

This is the second bank robbery in Madison so far in 2007, with the first robbery hitting Anchor Bank on Capitol Square in January.

"At this point, it's so early to try to link this individual with others, but initial reports would indicate that this person was probably acting alone," said Mike Hanson, public information officer for the Madison Police Department.

Amcore Bank's surveillance cameras were able to take exceptionally clear photos of the suspect, Hanson said, which will be helpful in locating him.

"It's important that we release [the photos] to the public because they're such good photos, and we're confident that somebody might know who this individual is and give us a call," Hanson said.

If caught and convicted, the suspect would likely face jail time, according to Assistant District Attorney Mike Verveer. Robbing a bank, with or without a weapon, Verveer added, is a felony.

"They both call for maximum sentences of many years in a state prison," Verveer said. "But I have seen some cases where it's a note, for example, passed to a teller and no weapon is shown — some people receive one year in jail and several years of probation."

Verveer added the suspect's record would play an important role in determining the sentence for the crime.

"It really could be anything," Verveer said. "There are so many circumstances that go into this."

Last year saw a record amount of bank robberies in Madison, including ones at Great Midwest Savings, Guaranty Bank and Home Saving Bank. Amounts stolen from banks are rarely released, as to not encourage the robberies.