Brazen is how some describe a bank robbery Monday morning near West Hazleton.
First he held up the bank, then he came running through a nearby neighborhood.
State police ask that you take a hard look at these pictures of a bank robber in action. If you think you know the bandit, troopers would like to hear from you
Investigators converged on the PNC Bank on Route 93 near West Hazleton after a man slipped the teller a note demanding money.
He then took off and made it through some backyards to his getaway car.
"Saw him cross the driveway and get into a car and as he was getting into the car he was looking over his shoulder and I noticed the mask on his face and the headband on his head," said neighbor Tim Ostrosky. When he saw that he called 911. "This guy had the guts to walk into the bank at 9 a. m. and broad daylight and a half a mile from the state police barracks he had a lot of guts or no brains, not sure."
Neighbors said the getaway car was sitting near a neighbor's house, but apparently in his haste to get away, the robber left an important piece of evidence.
"They found the note on the property there. They found the note, yeah. So it is a little bit scary yeah," said neighbor Loraine Tallarico. She was away and doesn't want to think about what would have happened had she gotten home minutes earlier. "I would ran right into him, right into him because he was standing right here. That's the scary thing. I said to my husband. He could have used me as a hostage to get away because that's when he took off and ran to his car or he may had me take him in my car, that's what I was thinking."
State police do have a few leads and hope to catch up to the bandit, who last seen driving an older model brown four-door sedan.