Columbus Police Foil Latest In String Of Bank Robberies

A would-be robber was shot and wounded today at a Fifth Third Bank on Morse Road. Columbus Police say the crime fits a pattern of four previous robberies that have occurred within the past month. Columbus police say this is the fifth instance in recent weeks that an assailant has approached bank customers and demanded money. Sergeant Rich Weiner is a Columbus police spokesman. “An employee from the Rent-A-Center came here to the bank to make a deposit. Before he was able to get inside the bank that’s when the individual rushed up to him, pulled a gun and demanded the money.â€? Weiner says this robbery ended differently because there were two police officers inside the bank. “You’ve got a police officer working special duty in uniform; you have an off-duty police officer who’s on vacation who was coming here to cash a check. They were inside talking when there was some kind of scuffle outside. They both looked, when they came outside, that’s when the suspect started to run and that’s when they confronted him. That’s when the off-duty officer shot one time,â€? Weiner says. The assailant was taken to Riverside Hospital in stable condition. Weiner says the suspect fits previous descriptions given by robbery victims.