LAWRENCE — A man wearing a baseball cap pulled low on his head, robbed the Sovereign Bank at Stadium Plaza on Route 114 yesterday afternoon — the area's second bank heist in two days.
The Danversbank in Andover was held up Thursday afternoon, about two and a half miles away from yesterday's robbery.
"We're dealing with Andover because of the proximity of the two robberies," Lawrence police Chief John Romero said. "We're not sure if they are connected. That's what we're trying to figure out."
Romero said a white male wearing a black-and-white baseball cap passed a note to a teller shortly before 2:45 p.m. yesterday demanding cash.
The man did not show a weapon and no one was injured. He was still at large last night.
The robber is described as a white male in his 20s. He was wearing a long-sleeve, white T-shirt, faded jeans, sneakers and a ball cap. He is thought to be 5 feet 10 inches tall. Witnesses could not make out the man's hair color, however, because he wore his hat low. In the Thursday robbery witnesses described the robber as having reddish hair.
Romero said the note — which was left at the scene — was not threatening.
"It's one of those, 'Give me the money, don't hit buttons'-type notes," Romero said. "There were some customers in the bank."
Witnesses could not tell where the man fled to or whether there was a getaway car, police said.
The Sovereign Bank branch remained closed for the rest of the day yesterday.
Romero called the plaza an ideal spot for a robbery.
The shopping center, which houses restaurants, a video rental shop, clothing stores and the Registry of Motor Vehicles, is packed with pedestrians and vehicles at that time of day.
"With the proximity to Route 495 and 93, you can be out in a matter of seconds and gone," Romero said. "But we've seemed to make arrests in most of these, so hopefully we'll apprehend this guy."
Andover police did not release a photograph of their bank robber suspect yesterday, and had no new information.
The man who robbed Danversbank was described as a 6-foot-tall, white male in his 20s, with reddish hair, who wore a Yankees cap. Andover police were looking at whether their suspect was the same person who has hit a string of banks on the North Shore in the past couple of weeks.
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Anyone having information on yesterday's bank robbery is urged to call the Lawrence police at 978-794-5900.
