This still from a security camera shows the man who allegedly robbed the Pearl Avenue Lorain National Bank branch on Tuesday.
LORAIN — Joyce Crum was surprised when she went to make a deposit at Lorain National Bank around 4:15 p.m. Tuesday.
The bank at 2850 Pearl Ave. was closed because someone had made an unauthorized withdrawal about 40 minutes earlier.
“We’ve just been robbed,” a bank employee told a 911 dispatcher around 3:35 p.m.
No one was hurt in the robbery and no gun was used, according to police radio transmissions. Experiencing the aftermath of a robbery was a first for Crum, an Elyria resident who said she’d been using the bank since 1977.
“I drive a school bus and after 42 years I’ve seen everything, but never a bank robbery,” she said. “I’m glad I didn’t make a deposit before he had a chance to take it. Oh, my goodness.”
Around 6:45 p.m., police said they caught the suspected robber. Lorain resident Christopher Metelsky was arrested walking at the intersection of East 36th Street and Canton Avenue by Detectives Buddy Sivert and Dennis Camarillo, according to Sivert.
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Sivert said police received an anonymous phone tip that Metelsky was walking in the area and that Metelsky fit the description of the robbery suspect in the bank surveillance video. The video shows a man in his 20s wearing a black T-shirt, black baseball cap and black glasses and carrying a cell phone.
Sivert said Metelsky was wearing different clothes when stopped, but police recognized him from the video because of Metelsky’s extensive criminal record. Sivert credited good coordination by police for the prompt arrest.
Metelsky, 23, of the 2500 block of East 38th Street, has convictions for assault, burglary, domestic violence and theft. Metelsky was charged with aggravated robbery and was being held without bond at the Lorain City Jail Tuesday night. He is due in Lorain Municipal Court today.
Contact Evan Goodenow at 329-7129 or egoodenow@chroniclet.com.
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