FBI searching for three bank robbers

The FBI is hunting for a trio of thieves, all of whom struck separately in the city earlier today and yesterday.

The trouble started about 10:30 this morning, when a short, mustachioed 45- to 55-year-old white guy sauntered into the Citizens Bank at 12th and Market streets, said Special Agent J.J. Klaver. He handed a demand note to a teller and fled east on Market on foot with an undisclosed amount of money.

Klaver said the robber wore a dark hooded sweatshirt, a light colored or white baseball cap with purple and yellow writing on the front, and blue jeans. He might have dye stains on his hands or clothing from the loot he stole.

About 1 p.m., a medium built black guy in his 30s used a threatening demand note to rob a Citizens Bank at Stenton Avenue and Washington Lane. Klaver said the robber, who was about 5-feet-7 and clean shaven, wore a black knit cap, sunglasses and a jacket with epaulets and several pockets. He fled south on Stenton on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash.

The third crook first showed up on the FBI's radar back on May 25, when he robbed the United Savings Bank at 15th Street and Packer Avenue after suggesting to a teller that he had a bomb in a paper bag that he was carrying.

He ran off after receiving a stash of cash that day, Klaver said, but absent-mindedly left behind the bag. Investigators determined the object in the bag was not a bomb.

The same crook, a thin white guy in his late 30s or early 40s, returned to the same South Philly United Savings Bank yesterday, toting -- of course -- another ominous looking brown paper bag. Klaver said the thug threatened the teller, but fled before getting any cash. The bag was found outside the bank. It contained another fake bomb, Klaver said. The robber also left behind a tan baseball cap with the words "Buckeye Partners" on the front.