A fifty-two year outdated New Hampshire man named John Robert Griffin Jr. is in custody after allegedly robbing a bank while sporting a Barack Obama mask on Wednesday morning. Griffin used to be apprehended within 15 minutes of the alleged robbery, carrying a loaded semiautomatic handgun, and is being held on $seventy five,000 bail. Curiously, Griffin’s alleged theft passed off two years, almost to the day, after every other financial institution theft involving a suspect in a Barack Obama mask.

On Wednesday morning, Sep 11, Griffin  allegedly robbed the Bank of The usa in Merrimack, New Hampshire, wearing a swimsuit and tie, and a Barack Obama Halloween masks, but didn’t get some distance. From The Merrimack Patch:

As a result of the witness descriptions of the man and a provided course of commute, Lt. Paul Trepaney was ready to spot the suspect popping out from at the back of a business on Columbia Circle simply north of the financial institution, within about 15 minutes of the robbery.

Police say Griffin originally had left the bank with an undisclosed amount of cash.

Lt. Denise Roy stated he by no means brandished a gun in the financial institution, however Merrimack Police Prosecutor Melissa Kowalewski said during Griffin’s arraignment that after he used to be taken into custody, he was discovered to be in possession of a semi-automated pistol and ammunition.

Kowalewski advisable Griffin be held on $75,000 money or surety bail all the way through the arraignment, saying that though Griffin doesn’t have a prison historical past, he poses a risk to the community as he had “no qualms” walking into a financial institution with a gun on him all through the middle of the morning and robbing it, striking the teller in drawing close worry of her security.

Griffin, who spoke briefly at the arraignment, claimed he wasn’t armed when he entered the financial institution.

Here’s Fox 25 Boston’s record on the robbery:

 

In an extraordinary accident, virtually exactly two years past, a person committed a financial institution theft in Tekonsha, Michigan while wearing a Barack Obama mask. That robbery came about on September 8, 2011, and used to be the ultimate in a string of eight financial institution robberies suspected to be the work of a serial financial institution robber:

The suspect is a white male, roughly 6’zero” tall, with an average construct. The suspect has worn camouflage clothing all over searching season to conceal his look, and within the different robberies he wore a vinyl Halloween mask, probably an Al Gore and Barak Obama presidential masks. (see under photos) The suspect has used a black semi-automated pistol all through the direction of the robbery and is presumed to be armed and bad. The getaway vehicle is described as a white four-door passenger automotive with a gray or black strip along the underside.

In keeping with FBI agent Brent Johnson, that suspect was once by no means apprehended, however they positioned his age at roughly 20 to 35 years previous. He additionally stated that the suspect in the string of robberies had not worn the identical protecting twice, and that they believed he had gotten rid of the Al Gore masks after sporting it during one theft. Johnson’s place of job had not yet heard in regards to the theft in Merrimack, however said they would observe up on it.

Merrimack Police Detective Scott Park informed Mediaite that Mr. Griffin is roughly 5’9″ tall, and has lived in the house most of his existence, making it unlikely Griffin may be the suspect within the Michigan robberies, but also said he would apply up. For now, it’s simply an enchanting accident.

Presidential masks are fairly incessantly used in financial institution robberies, most likely impressed through the Patrick Swayze/Keanu Reeves film Level Smash, however infrequently, they use nearly-presidential masks. A person in a Mitt Romney masks robbed a Virginia financial institution just weeks after Romney’s defeat within the 2012 election, and two years after someone else robbed that financial institution while wearing a Hillary Clinton mask.

[photo via screengrab]