Commerce Bank robbery similar to heists in Lenexa

Authorities say they’re looking into whether a man who robbed a Lawrence bank Thursday afternoon is disguising himself as he commits other bank robberies here and in Lenexa.

“It’s possible that he’s making himself up to be older — dyeing his hair gray and using a mustache that’s dyed gray,” said Jeff Lanza, an FBI spokesman in Kansas City, Mo.

Thursday’s robbery at Commerce Bank, 955 Iowa, was the second in Lawrence this year. The first happened Sept. 8 at Emprise Bank, 2435 Iowa.

There are enough similarities in these cases — and in two robberies Aug. 23 and Sept. 20 of the same Commerce Bank branch in Lenexa, Lanza said, to make agents think the four are possibly related.

On Thursday, the robber walked into the bank about 1:12 p.m., pulled a handgun halfway out of a black bag he was carrying and demanded money. He left with an undisclosed amount of cash and ran north toward Hillcrest shopping center, said Sgt. Dan Ward, a Lawrence Police spokesman.

At least three bank customers were inside at the time.

Police canvassed the area and looked for other nearby businesses that have surveillance cameras, Ward said.

Witnesses said the man was wearing a khaki baseball cap, thick-rimmed glasses and a blue, long-sleeved shirt with tan vertical stripes. They described him as a white male between 35 and 45 years old, about 5 feet 10 inches tall with a thin build, graying hair and a mustache that appeared to be fake.

In the previous Lawrence robbery, witnesses estimated the man was about six feet tall and between 50 and 60 years old. He didn’t display a gun.

Ward, the Lawrence Police spokesman, said it was too early to say with certainty the robberies were linked.

“Some of the general descriptions are similar; however, we wouldn’t want to jump to any conclusions,” he said.

In the Sept. 20 robbery in Lenexa, witnesses described the suspect as about 5 feet 6 inches tall with acne scars. He was wearing a baseball cap and had long blond hair that likely was a wig, Lanza said.

Lawrence Police officers take fingerprints off the glass at Commerce Bank, 945 Iowa. An unidentified male robbed the bank of a undisclosed amount of money Thursday.