By Mary Drier (Contact / Staff Bio)
April 1, 2009 - 09:57 a.m. EST

AKRON — Law enforcement is still in hot pursuit of the man who robbed the Northstar Bank in Akron last month.

Michigan State Police Trooper Ruth Osborn from the Caro Post worked with witnesses Tuesday on identifying the suspect.

“Trooper Osborn did a photo line-up of mug shots,” said MSP Detective Mark Krebs from the Bad Axe Post, who is heading the investigation.

Krebs started out to be a a commercial - graphic design artist, but changed careers to go into law enforcement. He uses his artistic skills in preparing drawings such as this.

Krebs finished the composite drawing of the suspect Tuesday.

The suspect is a white male, in his 20s, about 5’10-5’11, slim build, brown hair and with facial hair stubble. At the time of the robbery, he was wearing a black jacket which had a hood with fuzzy trim, wearing dark jeans, dark shoes, a T-shirt was dark with an emblem on it and black gloves.

The bank at 3559 North Main St., Akron, was robbed about 3:30 p.m. March 13. The suspect took less than $1,000.

The suspect is a white male, in his 20s, about 5’10-5’11, slim build, brown hair and with facial hair stubble. At the time of the robbery, he was wearing a black jacket, which had a hood with fuzzy trim, dark jeans, dark shoes, a dark T-shirt with an emblem on it, and black gloves.

The bank at 3559 North Main St., Akron, was robbed about 3:30 p.m. March 13. The suspect took less than $1,000.

The bank robbery has some Akron Village residents locking their doors which they never had done before, and old-timers in the police departments reminiscing about past cases. It seems like nearly every bank in Tuscola County has been robbed at one time or another, and all of those cases were solved.

There are two robberies that still stand out in the minds of some police officers. One was when a bank in Caro was robbed, and the suspect was apprehended a few blocks from the heist putting gas in his getaway car. That case was about 10 years ago.

Another robbery case is remembered because the note demanding money was signed by “bloody fingers”; then, the money was returned to the bank shortly after that accompanied by a note saying that Mrs. Bloody Fingers wanted it returned. That happened in the early 1960s.

The laws have changed since some of those robberies.

Even though this suspect didn’t brandish a weapon, he implied he had one, and robbed the bank with that implication so the charge will be bank robbery when he’s apprehended.

If found guilty of that charge, the sentence would be life in prison, said Tuscola County Prosecutor Mark Reene.

To report any information regarding the Akron robbery, contact the Michigan State Police at 1-800-824-7053.

Mary Drier is a staff writer for the Tuscola County Advertiser. She can be reached at drier@tcadvertiser.com.