Police have arrested a man suspected of robbing the downtown KeyBank on Tuesday afternoon, the second bank robbery downtown in the past three days.
Police identified the man as 45-year-old James G. Hamilton of Buffalo.
Police charged Hamilton with one count of third-degree robbery, a felony. He is expected to be arraigned Wednesday morning.
After the suspect fled the bank on foot, a city parking enforcement officer spotted him running in the area of Erie Boulevard and passed that information along to responding officers, police said. An officer then took the suspect into custody in the parking lot at 166 Erie Blvd.
Tuesday’s robbery happened at about 1:30 p.m. at the KeyBank at 315 State St.
The robber walked in and handed the teller a note demanding money. The teller handed over an undetermined amount of cash — and, secretly, a dye-pack security device. The suspect fled on foot.
“He had evidence on him,” police spokesman Lt. Mark McCracken said. “He also matched the description of the suspect seen fleeing the scene.”
Dye packs explode after suspects flee, staining the robbery proceeds — and sometimes the suspect’s clothing.
Police brought Hamilton back to the bank, and bank personnel identified him as the robber, McCracken confirmed.
No one was hurt.
The robbery follows one that happened Saturday on State Street at the downtown SEFCU branch.
In that case, that suspect also passed a note demanding cash just before noon.
The suspect in Saturday’s robbery was described as wearing blue jeans, white sneakers, a black hooded sweatshirt, a light-colored jacket, and a light-colored winter hat.
Other robberies
A robber hit another KeyBank, on Eastern Parkway, just before noon Jan. 15. A dye pack slowed that robber, but police have not made an arrest. The robber disposed of a stack of $20s stained after that dye pack went off.
The Jan. 15 robber also passed a note to the teller demanding money, police said.
A Jan. 7 SEFCU heist at its 920 Albany St. branch led to the arrest of Kristoffer Recinos, 34, of Schenectady, about two weeks later.
Police said Recinos handed the teller there a note just after 4 p.m. that day and made off with cash.
In Rotterdam, police said two suspects worked together to rob the Trustco on West Campbell Road Jan. 6. In the process, they called in a diversion threat to a school. Both suspects since have been arrested.
Finally, the Eastern Parkway KeyBank was hit Dec. 23. The suspect in that case was described as a woman.
McCracken said police were looking into whether any of the robberies are connected.
Reach Gazette reporter Steven Cook at 395-3122, [email protected] or @ByStevenCook on Twitter.
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