Key West Has Wild Chickens, 6-Toed Cats But Rarely Bank Robbers

KEY WEST, FL — It may not be unusual to spot wild chickens or occasionally even a six-toed cat roaming the quaint streets of Key West, but bank robbers are a far-less-common breed in America's southernmost city.

"I don’t know how many bank robberies there are in other places, but certainly it’s a small town," said Alyson Crean, who speaks for Key West police and 16 other city departments. "A lot of people know each other, and there is only one way in and one way out."

So you can imagine the surprise Tuesday when a man wearing a baseball cap, sunglasses and windbreaker walked into the Centennial Bank branch in Key West and held up an object as if it were a gun.

"We don’t get them very often," Crean said. "I think it’s been over three years, and I think the last couple, we caught them within a few hours of when it happened."

Tuesday's robbery took place at 4 p.m., a couple of hours before residents and visitors traditionally gather to watch the city's famous sunsets.

The bank branch is at 701 Whitehead St., said Special Agent Michael Leverock and spokesman Jim Marshall of the FBI in Miami.

"A robber entered the bank, implied a weapon and demanded money from a bank employee," Leverock and Marshall said in asking for the public's help in finding the Key West bank robber.

The FBI declined to say how much money was taken in the robbery but said no one was injured.

"We don’t do roadblocks or anything. It’s kind of quirky to say that," Crean acknowledged. "They set up a perimeter right after it happened and spread out all through the neighborhood. They found the windbreaker which he shed, changed his looks a bit."

If history is any indication, the robber won't be free for long.

"One of them, the guy went directly from the bank into a local dive bar and just started spending thousands buying people drinks," Crean said. "That was a giveaway."

Another bank robber had the misfortune of making his coffee run at the same time a city police officer happened along.

"One of our officers actually recognized the photograph and saw the guy at Sandy’s, which is a little bodega down here, buying coffee, a couple of days later," Crean said. "They got him that way."

It may be only a matter of time before this latest bank robber turns up.

"If he slipped out of town, that’s a whole different thing," Crean added. "But, hopefully we’ll get him today."

To report a tip, call the FBI at 754-703-2000.