Armed Robber Hits Bank by Courthouse

Police in Prince George's County are searching for a man who robbed an Upper Marlboro bank at gunpoint, then ditched at least two packs of money as he fled.

Just after 2 p.m., police said, a man armed with a handgun entered the M&T Bank branch in the 14700 block of Main Street and demanded money from a teller, said Officer Evan Baxter, a Prince George's police spokesman.

The man made off with the cash from one drawer, Baxter said, but as he fled a dye pack exploded. Police later recovered one dye pack and two packs of money, he said.

The bank stands in the shadow of the Prince George's County courthouse -- frequented on a daily basis by sheriff's deputies and police officers working security or testifying in cases -- and the "audacity" of the crime was not lost on Circuit Court Judge Dwight D. Jackson. Still, he said, the culprit might have had good reason to target the bank: It is near Route 4, which provides an escape route to the District and Calvert County -- and there are three bail-bond businesses within 40 yards should the suspect get caught and arrested on his way out.

"Yes, there are a lot of police around, but how would they be alerted? This isn't the best place to get a [cellphone] signal," Jackson said.

Baxter said the suspect is described as a black man in his mid-20s, 6 feet tall and weighing about 180 pounds. He had a thin mustache and thin black dreadlocks and was wearing a black jacket, bluejeans and dark tennis shoes, Baxter said.