NBD robbery marks second hit this week

In the second bank robbery near campus in less than a week, a man entered NBD bank on East William Street on Wednesday afternooon and slipped a note demanding cash to a teller.

The teller did not see a weapon, but the man implied that he had a gun by patting a bulge in his jacket.

At the time of the incident, there were seven people working in the bank and five customers, all of whom were unharmed.

"I'm real nervous about the area. I think it's changing," said Vickie Plotner, owner of Campus Bike & Toy Center, which is located on William Street, down the block from NBD bank.

Plotner said she went into NBD bank yesterday, hoping to make a deposit, when she saw signs saying the bank was temporarily closed. She said a teller told her she was now "paranoid" that the bank would be robbed again.

Ann Arbor Police Department Sgt. Mike Logghe said bank employees were probably very frightened by the incident. "I know I would be," he said.

Logghe said the suspect had gray hair and was wearing red sunglasses at the time of the incident.

Wednesday's NBD robbery follows Monday's holdup of Comerica bank on State Street, which is located in a University building, Wolverine Tower.

In that incident, a suspect warned the teller that he had a weapon and demanded money. No one was injured in the holdup.

Both Department of Public Safety and AAPD officials said they have no indication that the two holdups were committed by the same suspect.

Andrew Tobias, a Dexter resident who works at Campus Bike and Toy Center, speculated that the two campus bank robberies could be related.

"Since they both happened close to the same time, I believe it's the same people, and (they're) probably more organized," he said. "And I would be concerned that they might seek out other major places around this area."

Jeremy Winter, a manager at Smoothie Time, which is also located on East William Street, said he heard about the robbery from a police officer on a bicycle who stopped by the store.

"A lady that works in the bank had ordered a Smoothie and told us to deliver it. The police officer told us to (hold off because the bank had been robbed)," he said.

Winter said he had heard that the branch was scheduled to close in November, and that it seems like "no one's really interested in the job that they're doing" at the bank. He said low staff morale might make it easier for a robbery to occur.

NBD officials could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Anyone with information is asked to call the AAPD at 994-2878.

10-03-97