UPDATE: Bank robbery suspect gets away

A man armed with a semi-automatic handgun got away with an undisclosed amount of money from US Bank in Colusa Friday evening.

The robber, described as about 50 years old, 6 feet tall and weighing 180 pounds, with salt and pepper hair, entered the bank at Market and Sixth streets a few minutes before 5.

Colusa police Chief Ross Stark said the man approached a teller, put a bag on the counter and then displayed the handgun – demanding the teller put all the money from the drawer on the counter.

He then filled the bag and escaped through the back door, Stark said.

Colusa police and Colusa County sheriff’s deputies responded to the alarm within four minutes, Stark said, but the man was not found.

Stark was not certain whether the robber had a vehicle or not.

He was last seen wearing blue jeans with a long-sleeved burgundy shirt or light jacket over a white T-shirt, and wearing a black hat with orange lettering.

Stark said the FBI is now the lead agency in the investigation.

Police will be checking security video from nearby businesses to see if the robber was seen. In-bank footage was described as sketchy.

The bank was closed immediately following the robbery.

Customers walked up to the branch only to find the front doors had been locked without explanation. One man was shown a sign by a bank employee telling him he could go to the Williams branch nine miles away.

The event triggered memories of a similar incident just 18 months ago.

That is when a Chico man, Michael Taylor, entered the same bank at midday on March 8, demanded money or said he would blow up a school or the bank.

Six days earlier, Taylor robbed an Umpqua branch in Los Molinos.

His got away with $8,647 from Umpqua and $4,857 from the Colusa bank. It is believed he gambled all the money away.

Colusa Casino Resort, which provided information that led to the arrest of Taylor at his home, was put on notice after Friday’s robbery as well.

Last September, Taylor was sentenced to five years in federal prison for robbing the two banks.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Colusa police, 458-7777.

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