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Bank Robbery At Shopping Center

HAZLE TOWNSHIP — State police responded to reports of a bank robbery Friday morning in Luzerne County. It happened around 11 a.m. at the M&T Bank bran...

HAZLE TOWNSHIP -- State police responded to reports of a bank robbery Friday morning in Luzerne County.

It happened around 11 a.m. at the M&T Bank branch at the Laurel Mall near Hazleton.

This is the third hold up in the past two weeks, but unlike the other robberies in Drums, this one happened near Hazleton, inside the Laurel Mall.

Investigators released security camera photos of the suspected robber.

Bank Robbery At Shopping Center

State police said the robber demanded money from several tellers. He showed a hand gun but no one was injured. He got away with money from the bank.

Shoppers walked right past the state police cruisers parked outside one entrance to the Laurel Mall near Hazleton, but once inside, they saw doors locked at the M&T Bank and troopers interviewing tellers who were robbed just before 11a.m.

"This just shocks me. This is the mall! It's daytime, hundreds of people around here," said Bruce Jones.

Jones learned about the hold up when he tried to walk in with an important document.

"I was trying to drop off my will in my safety deposit box and I see everything is closed up."

People trying to cash their checks on a payday tell us they are surprised and concerned about a bank robbery happening in the middle of a mall, with people walking around.

"This kind of messes up my day because the closest one is in Mountain Top," said Ray Andrejczak of Sugarloaf.

This robbery is the latest in a series of holdups in Luzerne County.

On Monday, the First National Bank was robbed just a few miles away in Drums.

Less than a mile down Route 309, the National Penn Bank has been robbed three times since July.

Police believe a different robber was behind each of those holdups.

Mary Benneman calls the recent bank robberies an epidemic and says she picked the wrong branch to make a deposit.

"I usually go to Mountain Top. I Guess I made a mistake today, never thinking this bank would be robbed."

State police had a helicopter in the air Friday afternoon.

Anyone with information is asked to call state police in Hazleton at 570-459-3890.

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