Bank Robbery In Wellsville

As everybody and their brother knows Central Federal on Main Street in Wellsville was robbed last Friday a little after 4 o'clock. It was a daring armed robbery in their main lobby. According to newspaper accounts it was a white male in black shorts and a black hoodie pulled down over his head. Fortunately no one was injured. A lot of people were frightened and rightfully so. It was a warm, bright sunny day and the suspect was last seen walking down the street.

One of our readers asked when & if there were other bank robberies in the ville. The answer to that is yes. About 15 to 20 years ago there were five from what we have been told. One was actually in the Village limits and the other four were out on Route 39 between the ville and Salineville.

According to a former employee of the now defunct Perpetual Savings & Loan there was a robbery back in the late 1980s or early 1990s at that institution. Perpetual was located in what is now the Holly Development/Air Waves building at the corner of 5th & Main Street. It too was committed by a lone and armed individual. A gun believed to have been the one used by the robber was later found in the alley behind Shoub Towers.

In about the same time period the Citizens Bank branch out on Route 39 was robbed four times. The isolated location just beyond the 10th Street Extension and Rt. 39 split must have proved too tempting for the perpetrators. In one of those robberies the robber actually leaped over the counter to commit his crime. Being a frequent target was the cause of that branch eventually being closed.

Citizens is also defunct. It was renamed Sky Bank during their expansion years and later bought up by Huntington Bank.

So Michael, Central Federal wasn't the first. We hope it's the last but there is one interesting thought that comes to mind. Those other robberies occurred in the declining years following the closing of Crucible Steel when unemployment in the area was at an all time high. Unemployment is again soaring in the area and there's a bank robbery in our sleepy village. Hmmm...

Kudos to the officers of the Wellsvile Police Dept. We saw Lt. Ed Wilson still pounding the payment nearly four hours later looking for anyone who might have seen something. That's hours after the FBI gathered up everything and were long gone. Hopefully the FBI will soon share the film they took with them. Good pictures or not they should be given to the media. There just might be one tiny part of the robber someone could identify.

If anyone recalls anything, anything at all, please call WPD at 330-532-1522. It may just be the piece needed to solve the puzzle.

ole nib