Feds make arrest in connection to bank robberies

A weeks-long hunt for a serial bank robber is over.

The FBI says it has caught the man responsible for a trio of hold-ups across Lorain County, including a July 14 robbery at FirstMerit Bank in downtown Amherst.

Robert Starnes Jr., 38, of Sheffield Lake, is charged wih one count of federal armed bank robbery in connection to a stick-up there last Wednesday at Chase Bank.

FBI special agent C. Frank Figliuzzi said Starnes also faces pending charges stemming from the FirstMerit robbery and a similar one at Lorain National Bank in Sheffield Township on June 28.

"We did get quite a few tips after we released the surveillance photographs from Chase Bank," said FBI spokesman Scott Wilson. "That was certainly helpful."

The photographs released in both the Amherst and Sheffield robberies showed a man about 40 years old, about six feet, two inches tall with a thin to medium build and darker hair -- which matches Starnes's description.

Surveillance camera images showed the robber wearing a baseball cap, a dark long-sleeved T-shirt, and athletic pants, also much the same as in the other robberies.

A weapon was involved during the Chase Bank robbery, but Wilson said investigators can't talk right now about what type of weapon it was or whether it might also have been used at FirstMerit.

He also would not comment on what may have driven Starnes to commit the robberies or whether the money was recovered.

Wilson said even though a charge has been made, the investigation remains open and agents are still investigating leads and looking at similarities between the three hold-ups.

Agents at the FBI's Elyria office have -- at least for now -- ruled out that Starnes was involved in a June 17 robbery at Fifth Third Bank in Elyria, he said.

Starnes was arrested last Thursday for a parole violation at the Erie Shores Landing apartment buildings on Rt. 6.

Wilson had not officially identified Starnes as a suspect until Tuesday just after noon, when the charges were formally filed, although other county officials had released his name.

Starnes will appear in U.S. District Court in Cleveland once he is released from the county jail into federal custody. If convicted, he could face up to 25 years in prison.

Starnes already has a history with the court system, and had been on parole for a 2004 escape charge for failing to report then to the parole authority. He was convicted in 2003 for attempted grand theft.

He had been incarcerated previously for aggravated burglary after a 1993 conviction.