Space Coast Credit Union, the bank on Leanni Way, near Lupi Court, in the heart of Palm Coast, was the target of an armed robbery at 10:40 this morning. The man who robbed the bank got away, either on foot or in a vehicle, triggering an intense search localized around the Bank and Palm Coast’s B-Section.
The robber is believed to be a black man between 20 and 30 years old. He was captured in a surveillance video still the Sheriff’s Office disseminated earlier. The man “went into the Space Coast Credit Union and demanded money,” Brittany Kershaw, the Sheriff’s Office’s spokesperson, said. “He showed he had a gun in his waistband. He didn’t ever pull it out, but he did show the clerk it was there. They gave him an unidentified amount of money and he took off.”
“He had a draw-string backpack,” Kershaw said, using the backpack for the money.
Nearby Sunshine Academy, the child care center, and the United Methodist Church were locked down until about noon. A perimeter was established in the area, but also broken down around noon. Flagler County Fire Flight, the emergency helicopter, circled the B Section, and two K-9 units were also deployed, along with a tactical unit of the Sheriff’s Office–a scaled down version of its SWAT team–and other deputies. Though the perimeter has taken down, deputies continue the search in the area.
“H was wearing a lot of clothing but it’s expected that he doesn’t have a lot of that clothing right now,” Kershaw said of the suspect.
No one was injured during the robbery. Others at the bank witnessed it, and are being interviewed at the moment as the investigation proceeds. “We had a few calls come in” alerting the Sheriff’s office to possible suspicious activity, Kershaw said, “like a suspicious vehicle that was in a parking lot near Space Coast early this morning, but they don’t know if that was involved and they don’t know what time that vehicle left.”
Shortly after noon a Be On the Lookout alert was sent to neighboring counties.
Tips may be called into the non-emergency line at the Sheriff’s Office: 386/313-4911.
B.crawford says
I believe it states on the door to remove sunglasses and hats!!!!!
r&r says
Great coverage. I live close and heard the choppers. Less then an hour later I got the story from you.
Concerned in PC says
Has he been caught?
RayD says
Not much of a disguise. Hat and cheap sunglasses. Someone will turn him in or the cops will run facial recognition.
S Peters says
Yes it does state to remove sunglasses and hats. Haha I’m sure though, in my opinion, that if a person is going in to rob the place he’s not going to follow orders on some sign. :)
Donnie Riddle says
Like the guy gonna take his hat and glasses off because there’s a sign on the door. This guy came to rob the damn bank!!!
Stanley Wolak says
Looks like the guy might have gotten con-fused and was working directing traffic got over heated and was trying to come in to buy a Smoothie!!!
reality check says
Vystar Credit Union isn’t a target with security there. its a sad day when security is needed everywhere.
Anonymous says
Is there a state policeman posted at this bank? Vystar has one. Just wondering is all credit unions do.
Lou says
The picture quality is poor.
Poor picture quality increases law enforcement cost to apprehend this criminal.
There should be a minimum picture quality requirement, to reduce taxpayer’s cost to apprehand this criminal.
GWOT Veteran says
If a sign telling you to take off your sunglasses and hat had any effect they should have put a sign on the door that said “Don’t rob us”, it’s just a sign like “Gun-free zone”, criminals intent on breaking laws do not care what you write on a sign.
Shark says
not these cops
Mark101 says
Well at least the robber was wearing a safety vest :)
Lonzo brown says
No arrests for illegal fireworks last night
woodchuck says
Can’t he take a break from landscaping?ATM was out of order.
Atticus finch says
Because we all know criminals follow the rules 👍
Damien says
Great local reporting as usual… I was at Sunshine dropping off my daughter and forgot that it was water play day, so went to walmart quick to get my kid a bathing suit and when I got back to her school 4 doors down from the bank there were cops pulling in, Fireflight circling so low I could feel the breeze from the rotor… Ms Gail there in charge at the school had to walk out to one of the police cars there blocking entrance to the road to find out what happened… She promptly put school on lockdown status (Where the drop the metal shutters over the windows and lock the gates, move kids inside etc… The bank actually called Sunshine academy to alert them of the situation, that an armed man just left… I would hope in the future that any school within a range of an armed criminal leaving on foot un-apprehended would get a heads up by Flagler Sheriffs faster then this… IE the bank that just got robbed alerted (as a courtesy) the little daycare where hundreds of children are just down the street… Nobody wants a hostage situation with a desperate man w/ a gun…
Fred says
No such thing as illegal fireworks. Stop being a buzz kill
Andrew says
How does a place with a huge bullet proof piece of plexiglass get robbed?
Keystone says
It’s really reassuring that our police cant even find a dude wearing a safety vest and a straw hat! I know I know, he pealed off the get-up after he left SCCU. But then is it still not odd to see a guy running out of a CU pealing off his clothing. If he had come out a bar doing the same, they’d been waiting on him across the street!
Itsme says
Hey, bank employees, the fact that this criminal walked in looking the way he did, should have been a red light!!! HIT THE ALARM!!!
Dennis Cwalina says
The robber was smart. If I were to rob a bank it wouldn’t be in a large town like Jacksonville, or Miami. People would expect that in a large city, certainly not in a small town like Palm Coast or Palatka. Also, the day after a Holiday people in the workplace are not fully on there game. Law enforcement was probably exhausted from the holiday as well. I think the robber is very intelligent whoever he is. The fact that he hasn’t been caught yet tells me he had everything well calculated.
Outsider says
@Bcrawford: too bad they didn’t have a “no firearms” sign on the door; he wouldn’t have been able to rob the place if they did!
Slick Willy says
@Dennis Cwalina. This guy isn’t smart. My theory is he dipped into the woods behind Spacecoast on foot and snuck into one of the houses back there in the B section rented by his girlfriend or something. Too much exposure for him to take the chance driving out of the location. He’s hunkered down somewhere close by.
Anon says
He will be back, since he got away with it, he most likely will want more. Let’s see how this one play’s out.
Benjamin Bartlett says
Andrew:
Banks with thick plexiglass windows are vulnerable too, but a little safer for the tellers.
Terroristic threats can be made, and innocent customers can get killed.
And I won’t go into detail why Plexiglas windows are easily overcome.
These, and many other reasons are why loot is readily handed over.
[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅5̲̅)̲̅$̲̅]
Dennis Cwalina says
Well than that’s pretty damn smart too, because I wouldn’t think to look for him close by. Has he been caught? If not I would say that your own words suggest that he was fairly intelligent.