Updated: Aug. 28, 10:15 p.m.
Greenwich Police have released photos of the man they say robbed the People's United Bank and then ran towards the Greenwich Train Station just before 5 p.m Wednesday.
The Hispanic male, clad in a dress shirt, yellow tie, black pants, Fedora and sunglasses, came into the bank and approached a female teller, according to police spokesman Lt. Kraig Gray. "He proceeded to speak in Spanish to the teller. He demanded money and implied he had a weapon," Gray said late Wednesday.
The teller handed over an undetermined amount of cash and the man fled towards the Greenwich Train Station, just across the street from the 410 Greenwich Ave. bank, according to Gray. Greenwich Police, with the help of the Metropolitan Transit Authority shut down rush hour train traffic on the New Haven Line of Metro-North Railroad, causing delays of up to an hour.
Passengers were ordered to leave trains at the Greenwich station single file and commuters leaving nearby parking lots and garages had their cars searched by police, according to accounts commuters gave to Greenwich Patch.
Gray said there were several employees in the bank at the time and that the bank surveillance cameras captured several clear images of the suspect. "We hope that somebody may know him and will call our tips line...anybody who perhaps saw anything or was in the area at the time, will call," Gray said.
Police left the People's Bank crime scene at 8:50 p.m.
This is the second time People's United Bank has been robbed. It was robbed in November 2011.
Anyone with information are asked to call police at 203-622-3333, or e-mail tips@greenwichct.org.
Updated: Aug. 28, 7:52 p.m.
Greenwich Police say that contrary to reports from a Metro-North spokesman, there weren't any gunshots fired during the robbery of People's United Bank at the bottom of Greenwich Avenue.
Metro-North reported at about 7:50 p.m. That trains on the New Haven Line continue to have 10 to 15-minute delays. Greenwich Police had ordered the shutdown of the rail line after the suspect in the robbery reported at 4:57 p.m. fled towards the Greenwich Train station across the street from the bank.
Updated: Aug. 28, 6:30 p.m.
Metro-North reports commuters on the New Haven Line should expect residual delays of up to 60 minutes because of the Greenwich Police search for a bank robbery suspect that shut down all train traffic on the line earlier Wednesday evening.
A Greenwich commuter reported that after 5:14 train to Greenwich arrived in town about 6:01 police were searching cars leaving the station lots.
"A cop was stopping cars as they drove out of the parking garage. Drivers had to open their trunks so the cop could verify that the trunk is empty," according to the commuter.
Just before 5 p.m., the People's United Bank at 410 Greenwich Ave., just across the street from the Greenwich Train Station reported a lone male escaped with an undetermined amount of cash. Police had a dragnet in the area searching trains, the station and the nearby Clearview Cinemas movie theater on Railroad Avenue, according to police radio transmissions and witnesses.
Another commuter told Greenwich Patch, "I'm on the 5pm train from Greenwich. I had just gotten on the train and they told everyone to stay in their seats - lots of police activity visible around the station. Armed officers came through a couple of times with dogs, instructing all of the passengers to put our hands in the air while they searched each car. It was probably around 5:45 when the train finally got going and they told us what was going on."
Updated: Aug. 28, 5:56 p.m.
A commuter aboard a Greenwich-bound train that was stopped in Rye, NY reports that police canine units were searching the tracks near his train. Just before 5:50 p.m., "They just announced that "police have released the track" and we have started moving," according to the commuter.
Original story: Aug. 28, 5:33 p.m.
Greenwich Police are combing the Greenwich Train Station on Railroad Avenue and surrounding parking lots in search of a man who reportedly robbed the People's United Bank at 410 Greenwich Ave.
According to police radio transmissions, the apparent robbery was reported just before 5 p.m. Police ordered all train traffic on the Metro-North Railroad halted as officers searched trains, the train station, nearby parking lots and traffic exiting the station, according to the transmissions.
Metro-North issued this advisory: "New Haven Line Service is indefinitely delayed in the vicinity of Greenwich due to police activity."
The suspect was described as a chubby Hispanic male, probably in his 40s, wearing a white collared shirt, yellow tie with black pants, black shoes, a fedora hat and sunglasses.
A commuter aboard a train out of Grand Central Terminal, due in Greenwich at 5:14 p.m. said in an email to Greenwich Patch, that his train was stopped just past the Rye, NY station. The commuter said a conductor explained there would be a 15-minute delay because of police activity in Greenwich.
Greenwich Patch will update this story as details become available.
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