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07/24/2008
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MADISON -- Armed robbers held up the Franklin Somerset Federal Credit Union on Wednesday, escaping with cash after a near-collision with a pursuing police cruiser.
It was the third such robbery at the same tiny credit union in the past four years.
Madison Police Chief Barry Moores said two young black men entered the credit union on Main Street at about 11 a.m. and left on foot into woods behind the building.
They then allegedly met three other people -- a white male driver and two white females -- in a brown Pontiac Bonneville at the Madison boat landing on the Kennebec River and attempted to speed off.
Moores' cruiser was already there, however.
"I turned on the vehicle, I had it partially blocked in an escape route and it went off the road and went around a roadblock," Moores said.
Tire marks could be seen off the road in mud next to the roadway of the boat landing. Moores said the driver's evasive action was a high-risk attempt to escape.
The weapon turned out to be a pellet gun, Moores said.
"We're in search of two black males that entered the Franklin Somerset Credit Union here in town and left with an undisclosed amount of money," Moores said. "They left the credit union on foot, went down a walking trail and got into a brown-colored, mid-sized Pontiac-type vehicle and left the scene.
"There were five people in the car when they left the boat landing."
Moores said the two men inside the credit union were armed. They looked to be in their teens to mid-20s, he said.
"They displayed a gun inside the bank," he said. "The last direction of travel was out Route 43, out of town toward Athens, Solon."
The men are described as being 5 feet, 10 inches to 6 feet tall and of very slim build. They both were wearing hooded sweatshirts.
The Franklin Somerset Federal Credit Union was robbed twice before, once on July 6, 2004, and again on Aug. 12 of that year.
A total of $45,000 was taken in the heists.
James "Tony" Wildes, then 19, was convicted of both robberies and sentenced to six years in prison in 2005. He also was ordered to pay $15,000 in restitution.
Wildes' brother Christopher, then 16, who admitted involvement in the first of the two robberies, will be in a juvenile detention facility until no later than his 20th birthday, according to a published report.
No weapon was seen in the 2004 robberies, but Wildes reportedly told credit union clerks: "Give me all the money and no one will get hurt."
Moores said in Wednesday's robbery, credit union employees again were shaken by the experience.
"They were quite upset, quite startled," he said.
Met in the parking lot escorting an employee to her car after the robbery, Cass Hirschfelt, president and chief executive officer of the Franklin Somerset Federal Credit Union, declined to comment.
The robbery remains under investigation and Moores said he could not share additional details on the case.
When reports of the robbery were broadcast over police frequencies Wednesday, officers from Madison, Skowhegan, the Somerset County Sheriff's Department and Maine State Police sped to the area on either side of U.S. Route 201 from Lakewood all the way to Bingham.
Patrol units and unmarked police vehicles criss-crossed side roads, looking for the getaway car, but came up empty.
Later in the afternoon Wednesday police, including Moores and Deputy David Cole of the sheriff's department, resumed their search of the woods and scrub land between the boat landing and the rear of the credit union.
Moores would not say what they were looking for.
Detective Jeffrey Love of Maine State Police Criminal Investigation Division II in Augusta also was on hand for the investigation.
Meanwhile, back on Main Street in Madison, state and local police pieced together details of the robbery and assembled surveillance photos for TV and print media.
Credit union customers came and went during the noontime lunch hour, but were turned away by a sign on the saying simply: Closed due to an emergency.
Wendy Sincyr, owner of Curves, next door to the credit union, said she couldn't help but notice the two robbery suspects earlier Wednesday morning as they paced up and down Main Street in front of her store.
"I saw two black men, very thin, and I just noticed because they walked back and forth several times -- five or six times," Sincyr said. "I only noticed because, several times I saw them go by -- I'm always here in the middle (of the store) when women are working out and I just noticed ... and after the third or fourth time..."
Sincyr said she didn't call the police because it is summer and there are young people walking around all the time. She said the pair looked to be in their late teens.
Madison Town Manager Norman Dean said he also saw the suspects walking up and down Main Street from the Movie Guys video store to the credit union before the robbery.
"I think it's too bad," Dean said. "I can't imagine that this could happen in downtown Madison. It's just unbelievable."
Doug Harlow -- 474-9534 ext. 342
dharlow@centralmaine.com
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