Second robbery in 2 days reported at ATM in Pittsfield Township
A man was robbed at gunpoint Sunday at an ATM on Ellsworth Road, marking the second robbery at an ATM in Pittsfield Township in two days, police said. It's unclear whether the robberies are related.
About 7:30 p.m., the 36-year-old Lansing man was in his car at the Chase Bank ATM at 4101 Ellsworth Road when a man approached the driver's side window, a police news release said. Investigators said the man pointed a silver-colored semi-automatic handgun at the victim and demanded money.
The victim handed over his money and the man left, getting into a gold-colored sport utility vehicle in a nearby restaurant parking lot, police said. The victim followed the SUV into Ann Arbor, where he lost sight of it. The robber was described as white, in his mid-20s, with a slender build. He was tall, clean-shaven and had blond, wavy hair. Police said he was wearing a blue sweatshirt.
On Saturday, a man was robbed at a Chase Bank ATM at 6957 East Michigan Avenue. In that case, a 22-year-old York Township man was in his car about 7:55 p.m. when a masked man approached and pulled out a black semi-automatic handgun. Police said the man demanded money from the victim. The victim handed over his money and the man left, possibly getting into a vehicle in the area. A detailed description of the man was not available.
Anyone with information can call police at (734) 822-4911.
Lee Higgins covers crime and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by phone at (734) 623-2527 and email at leehiggins@annarbor.com.
Comments
Basic Bob
Mon, Oct 3, 2011 : 4:37 p.m.
@Roy Munson, "Ann Arbor will be the new Flint in 5-10 years if city government continues to pretend it isn't there." This might be true, but both stickups were in Pittsfield, which just *doubled* their safety millage. They pretty much have a cop on every corner.
SW40
Mon, Oct 3, 2011 : 3:01 p.m.
Stop blaming the 48 month cap on welfare benefits, the individual(s) committing the crimes are to blame and its that simple. Second, for those of you who have never worked in social services let me give you some information I've experienced with my own two eyes over several years. Wellfare does make many people complacent, a large number of people on welfare or foodstamps (bridge card) have addiction problems with drugs and alcohol. The regulation of individuals on these programs is non-existent, many of them are engaged in illegal activity including selling narcotics, stolen property, and most importantly bridge card fraud. Our state gives millions of dollars to families with no interest in whether or not they are trading bridge cards for dope money, or using welfare funds to purchase narcotics. I worked in this nightmare for my entire adult life and guess what it isn't getting better. Most of the people are wellfare are not interested in taking low paying jobs, they fool themselves into believing if they make "too much money" they will lose there "free government money" so they are fine sitting at home everyday taking money from the government. Before all the sappy liberal nonsense starts flowing out of this website while don't you people go walk through some of the low-income housing areas in Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor or Macarthur boulevard in Superior township and tell me if you see people looking for jobs or looking for the dope man. For those of you who think giving money to drug addicts is compassionate, I'd question your philosophy. Sometimes tough love is what is needed, 4 years on welfare is rediculous. Indiana has a two year cap. Sometimes timeouts don't work and you have to give a good old fashion whooping. Time for these welfare recipients to step up and become the parents their kids deserve.
Cash
Mon, Oct 3, 2011 : 5:08 p.m.
Yes, people who have no money to buy food and pay rent have nothing to do with this problem...right or wrong. Let's just whistle really loud and pretend the problem isn't there.
sellers
Mon, Oct 3, 2011 : 4:21 p.m.
It's unfortunate that these people consume public welfare ineffectively. What is a shame is that we can't just arrest them, because then we force them to consume public welfare ineffectively. What is worst of all, is that the folks who are down on their luck, who are trying but just keep getting hit hard, are suffering the most as the abusers give them a bad rep. Do we need a social network system for welfare, and have people vouch for the needy's character?
Greggy_D
Mon, Oct 3, 2011 : 3:53 p.m.
Awesome post! You illustrated one of the reasons that Indiana has a $1.2 billion dollar budget surplus this year.
bruceae
Mon, Oct 3, 2011 : 3 p.m.
@RJA. Be careful that you don't use your debit card or the bank is going to rob you of $3.00 a month. It might just be easier to pay an "honest" hard working criminal one time than pay every month.
Stephen Lange Ranzini
Tue, Oct 4, 2011 : 11:03 a.m.
At University Bank (and other local financial institutions) checking accounts still have no fees and no minimum balance, no fees for debit cards and credit cards and no fees for telephone banking, internet banking and Internet bill payment services. Perhaps it's time to invest a few minutes and fire that mega bank that you are paying all those fees to and switch to a community bank?
Cash
Mon, Oct 3, 2011 : 5:06 p.m.
at BOA it's $5 PER MONTH!
RJA
Mon, Oct 3, 2011 : 2:37 p.m.
OMG, did this Lansing man NOT have a cell phone on him? I would have called 911 in the beginning as I started to follow the suspect. OK, I am done with ATM machines, my SS and retirement checks go directly into my checking acct. I will use my credit/debit card or write checks. What does a Saline full time cop have to do with this story?
Ron Granger
Mon, Oct 3, 2011 : 2:24 p.m.
"Hi, I'm Ron, and I'll be your robber. If you'll just pull ahead, we can get this taken care of quickly." Surely the victim got the plate of that "gold colored SUV". Hopefully he can be brought to justice. If he resists, I hope they use the taser on him, and I hope it has fresh batteries. I rather think anyone driving a gold colored SUV should be arrested for their bad taste, but that's just me.
Roy Munson
Mon, Oct 3, 2011 : 1:36 p.m.
I don't own a gun (right now at least) and used to think that all your gun people who light this board up were wackos. But I was wrong. We need to protect ourselves. The police can't be everywhere and the court system is certainly no ally. It is really a jungle out there and is only rapidly getting worse.
Ricebrnr
Mon, Oct 3, 2011 : 4:52 p.m.
Oh and the kudos was less about Roy changing his mind about guns than opening his mind to self defense and options.
Ricebrnr
Mon, Oct 3, 2011 : 4:50 p.m.
@Ron, agreed that shooting through anything is a bad scene but dependent on the specific situation, bad may be the best or only option against worse. Critical incidents are all about already being in a bad situation. Sometimes we don't have a whole lot of options and I would hate for people to limit themselves. As usual having a plan, understanding your options BEFORE your critical incident is always the key to prevailing. As for shooting through windshields, have you seen this? <a href="http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/buickot1.htm" rel='nofollow'>http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/buickot1.htm</a>
Ron Granger
Mon, Oct 3, 2011 : 4:46 p.m.
Ricebrnr, everything I read about bullets and windshields says that .38 will often not even penetrate. The flying glass could easily blind the vehicle occupant, even glass from their own shot. There has been a lot of research done on the topic. The quick summary is that you don't want to be shooting through your windshield in a car. If the bullet passes through, it will be deflected. The deflection can be very significant, even with .45 ACP - 30-45 degrees. The bullet coming in only travels a couple feet before potentially reaching the taget. So any deflection will move the bullet less distance off target. If we assume the bullet going out travels only six feet, then even a 10 degree deflection would make it completely miss the target. The flying glass of any windshield shot has a good chance of blinding the vehicle occupant. And if you fire from within a vehicle, you may permanently lose hearing. It's a bad scene all around.
Roy Munson
Mon, Oct 3, 2011 : 3:50 p.m.
In this exact scenario, I wouldn't pull out a piece. In other situations, it would certainly be called for though. With this increasing rate of crime (and violent crime), Ann Arbor will be the new Flint in 5-10 years if city government continues to pretend it isn't there. Thank God I have an escape plan!
Ricebrnr
Mon, Oct 3, 2011 : 3:44 p.m.
@ Ron, Yes, I've said on many occasions that you cannot defend property with lethal force and yes get training. Just out of curiosity, what property makes a windshield shoot-through-able in only one direction? Also related and as you stated car doors are no protection which is why you can shoot through them if necessary same as an assailant. @David, Too many parameters to discuss but that is what training is for. Short general answer at least for me is: 1) I have several blind spot mirrors in my car but I rarely use ATMs alone AND I still always keep my head on a swivel. 2) don't put the vehicle in park, leave it in drive 3) pull up to the machine as close as possible so an assailant can't approach you from that direction. 4) remember your multi-ton vehicle beats just about any 115-230gr bullet for knock down power.
david st. crystal
Mon, Oct 3, 2011 : 2:40 p.m.
Ah yes the concrete jungle that is Ann Arbor, MI. Just curious how a gun would help you in the above scenario. The robber's gun is already pointed at your face, and once you start fumbling for your own piece, the robber would probably blow your head off.
Ron Granger
Mon, Oct 3, 2011 : 2:35 p.m.
Getting into a shootout over a $50 ATM withdrawl is a tough call. Ever read Massad Ayoob's books or take his training? He is a well known expert. He'd probably say to give the guy your money and only use the gun if you absolutely must to survive. It's already a given that you are dealing with a desperate criminal who is willing to show a gun - that's a very serious crime. In some ways you are very vulnerable in a car, even with a gun. You can't shoot effectively through your windshield, but he can shoot you through your windshield. You have only one quick exit from the vehicle - the driver side door. It is hard to rotate your body from the seat and shoot to the rear. If you are right handed, it limits your ability to defend out your window. Do you practice weak arm shooting? Do you practice it in competition under pressure, not just with paper? Are you really good at it, under extreme stress? Being in the car is no defense against bullets. A 9mm, especially with cheap ballnose practice ammo, will go right through car doors, etc. Nobody wants to be a victim, but merely having a gun isn't a solution. Especially if the perp already has his gun out.
Ricebrnr
Mon, Oct 3, 2011 : 2 p.m.
Well from one "wacko" to a newbie wacko, glad you finally understood what we were trying to do. For the rest of you, WAKE UP and realize YOU are the first responder to YOUR critical incident. YOU need to make sure YOU survive until help arrives.
Fatkitty
Mon, Oct 3, 2011 : 1:25 p.m.
"It's unclear whether the robberies are related." I'd say it's clear as a bell, relative to the fact that the location is an easy mark. Both robberies occurred in the early evening, less than an hour after sunset. Weapons involved. Busy location (Ellsworth & Carpenter) provides "cover". So does someone need to be injured or killed in order to get some police surveillance here?
Fatkitty
Mon, Oct 3, 2011 : 3:57 p.m.
A2Lifer, thanks.
A2LIFER
Mon, Oct 3, 2011 : 2:10 p.m.
They were at 2 different locations.
Cash
Mon, Oct 3, 2011 : 12:38 p.m.
It's all wrong but desperate times call for desperate measures. Welfare got cut off Saturday? No more money to feed the kids? No money to pay rent? Exactly WHAT did we think would happen? If this is not a crisis now, it soon will be.
tim
Mon, Oct 3, 2011 : 12:05 p.m.
With many getting cut off from welfare checks it would be prudent to use ATM far away from poor areas ( several miles ).
tim
Mon, Oct 3, 2011 : 6:52 p.m.
Well I guess your right with all the robberies going on in A2, but my point is that we need to be "street wise". Meijers is not far from some pretty bad neighborhoods in ypsi. If one does live in a high crime area it might be prudent to use a ATM that is in a store or better yet go get cash from the bank teller.
obviouscomment
Mon, Oct 3, 2011 : 2 p.m.
interesting use of "poor areas" in your comment...i wouldn't necessarily say that those areas are "poor areas"...what do you mean by that...it seems all areas can be "poor areas" now
Urban Sombrero
Mon, Oct 3, 2011 : 11:54 a.m.
Your link (Ellsworth address) doesn't work. This concerns me. This particular bank/ATM is in a pretty public place. Right next to Meijer and the Meijer gas station. I'm a TCF customer and have, at times, used their ATM at night (right near this one that was robbed). No more, i guess. This is getting scary.
SalineSara
Mon, Oct 3, 2011 : 11:51 a.m.
Meanwhile, there is a full time cop at Saline High strutting her stuff around and toting her gun.
CollegeGirl
Mon, Oct 3, 2011 : 7:51 p.m.
Asked and answered, thanks, Bob!
Basic Bob
Mon, Oct 3, 2011 : 7:31 p.m.
Pittsfield Township provides a fully trained and equipped officer at Saline High School for half price (paid with a grant, so the school pays nothing)
CollegeGirl
Mon, Oct 3, 2011 : 5:58 p.m.
Sara: What does a police officer at Saline High have to do with two robberies at an ATM in Pittsfield Twp? Nothing, IMO. Pioneer and Huron have police officers. (I'm not sure about Skyline)