Witness helps nab bank robber
By DAVE SHELTON
Article published on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2006  |
SEMINOLE – An alert bystander helped deputies nab a suspected bank robber just minutes after he allegedly held up the Fifth Third Bank branch at 10899 Park Blvd. on Feb. 10.
Pinellas County Sheriff’s detectives said Robert J. Eckes, 26, 2226 Nursery Road, Clearwater, entered the bank at 12:15 p.m. He allegedly handed a teller a note, which said, “I have a gun. Do as I say or die.”
The teller handed over an undisclosed amount of cash, which included a hidden explosive dye packet, and Eckes fled.
The robber was spotted by a person driving west on Park Boulevard, according to a Sheriff’s Office report. The driver saw Eckes running from the bank and he saw the dye package explode. The driver made a U-turn and saw the robber get into his car and pull out of the bank’s parking lot.
Using a cell phone, the witness called 911 and continued to follow Eckes as he headed east on Park, the report stated. As they neared Pinellas Park, the sheriff’s helicopter was guided by dispatchers to the fleeing suspect and the witness in pursuit.
The helicopter took over the chase and guided patrol cars to converge. Eckes was pulled over, and he surrendered without incident just seven minutes after the bank was robbed.
Eckes was being held in the Pinellas County Jail on $20,000 bail and charged with unarmed robbery. Detectives said that, despite the note, Eckes had no weapon during the robbery.
The robbery is similar to two other recent bank holdups, one in Largo and one in Clearwater.
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Article published on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2006
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