The Journal Sentinel reported this morning that the two suspects, aged 23 and 22, in the robbery of the Guaranty Bank branch in the Germantown Pick 'n Save are nicely ensconced in the Washington County Jail.
This whole incident showcases the cooperation and professionalism of both the Germantown Police Department and the Menomonee Falls Police Department. Germantown's Police Chief Pete Hoell said that in his posting to my earlier Blog on the idea of banks in stores. And, during an entirely unrelated meeting with Menomonee Falls Village Manager Mark Fitzgerald this morning, he mentioned the same thing about the two Departments. Both communities have every right to be proud, and we all can feel very safe knowing that this level of inter-Departmental cooperation will exist in every similar occurrence in the future.
This also showcases just how dumb criminals can be. The two were room mates in a Falls apartment. Each was spending the 'loot' within less than an hour of the robbery, and one was caught on tape doing so at the Wal-Mart on Appleton Avenue in Germantown. One, the driver, was arrested at the apartment just under one and one-half hours after the robbery. The other was arrested at the same apartment some fourteen hours after the robbery and after the apprehension of his 'roomie'. Darwin could have done an entire study with these two suspects.
The robber has been implicated in the January 30th robbery of another Guaranty Bank branch in the Falls Pick 'n Save; police also suspect that he may be tied to one or more earlier bank hold-ups.
Still, I have concerns about bank branches inside stores with little or no physical separation between the bank and the other facilities. It simply seems to beg for serious consequences at some point or another in the future. The teller was reported as saying she feared there was a gun in the robber's left hand pocket since he kept that hand in his pocket and since his note suggested that he was armed. If he were to have 'flipped' imagine the things we might be discussing today.
