The City of Whitewater Police Department and the FBI are investigating a robbery at the Commercial State Bank located inside Daniel’s Sentry last Friday.  The suspect allegedly used a bomb threat during the robbery and left the bank with an undisclosed amount of money.

Whitewater Police Chief Jim Coan said the police department is following up on a few leads.

The suspect is described as a White or Hispanic male with a deep voice, between 5’9”- 5’10,” and approximately 200 pounds. He was wearing a blue fur lined earflap hat, blue or black scarf, with a blue hooded sweatshirt underneath, a tan Carhatt type coat, light colored blue jeans and tan boots.

“The suspect entered the east entrance of Sentry with a Sentry bag and a red computer type bag,” Coan said. “The red bag contained two blue cylinders, which the suspect told the teller was a bomb.”

Break-ins

The City of Whitewater Police Department arrested two men Jan. 4 for allegedly breaking into nearly 30 cars in December.

Shane Thom, 34, and Johnny Coggon, 20, both of Burlington, are being held at the Walworth County Jail.

Coan said residents reported their vehicles broken into and items were stolen. Police have recovered iPods, Garmin GPS units, a car stereo, cell phone chargers and cash. Most of the cars that were entered were parked on the street.

Whitewater police also arrested freshman Benjamin Friske on Jan. 12 for breaking into five cars and a few garages, Coan said. This incident is not related to the previous break-ins related to Coggon and Thom.

“This was an example where someone was highly intoxicated and made some really bad choices,” Coan said of Friske’s case. “[Friske] will have to deal with both the legal ramifications and also the penalties given by the university.”

Coan said although these events have occurred, Whitewater is still a safe community.

“These events are common,” Coan said. “We have had them before. They will happen again. We are making arrests in these cases, which hopefully serves as a deterrent.”

Anyone with information on the bank robbery should contact Whitewater Police Detective Sgt. Tina Winger at 262-473-0555, or FBI Special Agent Michael Sheen at 262-857-3447. Those wishing to remain anonymous should contact the Walworth County TIP Line at 262-723-2677.

Anyone who would like to report items missing from their vehicles should contact Winger.