Police: Man arrested shortly after Westside bank robbery

Friday's bank robbery is 14th this year

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A man was captured shortly after robbing a bank Friday afternoon on the city's Westside, near the Roosevelt Square shopping center, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said. 

About 3 p.m., police said, a man in his 50s wearing khaki pants and a khaki hat went into the Bank of America on Wabash Avenue and then gave a teller a note, implying he had a weapon and demanding cash.

Police said the man then took off north on Roosevelt Boulevard, but it wasn't long before a money tracker inside the bag helped officers track him down at a nearby store.

Officers brought him back to the bank, where he was identified and arrested, JSO said. His name has not yet been released.

Jon Coen, who was cooking hot dogs at his stand at the time, said he wasn't surprised the bank across the street was robbed. Coen, the owner of J.A.G. Dog, said there's been several bank robberies at that Bank of America in the 20 years he's had his cart on Wabash Avenue.

"When police showed up, I was, like, 'How could I have missed it?'" Coen said. "They did come by and say, 'Did you see a guy with a khaki hat, tall black male with a khaki hat, running?'"

According to News4Jax records, this is the 14th bank robbery this year. Police have made arrests in four cases.

Two others are considered cleared by exception because the man who robbed them got into a shootout with JSO and was killed. An officer was wounded in that shootout. In another robbery, the suspect barricaded himself in his home and exchanged gunfire with police. He was wounded and killed himself. 

News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith said catching robbers isn't always easy.

"Sometimes, it takes a year or two years to clear these cases," Smith said. "So they're probably, right now, clearing cases from 2015 to 2016, also. It just depends on how information becomes available to them."

Last year, there were 12 bank robberies, News4Jax records show.


About the Author:

Corley Peel is a Texas native and Texas Tech graduate who covered big stories in Joplin, Missouri, Tulsa, Oklahoma and Jacksonville, Florida before returning to the Lone Star State. When not reporting, Corley enjoys hot yoga, Tech Football, and finding the best tacos in town.