FBI in Anchorage seeks suspect in attempted bank robbery

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Wrapped up for the cold temperatures and wearing a white mask almost up to her eyes, an unidentified woman handed a bank teller at the First National Bank Alaska branch on West Northern Lights Boulevard a note demanding money from him.

Now the FBI wants to find her.

“We take violent crime very seriously here at the FBI,” Zachary Pomerantz, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s Anchorage office, told Alaska’s News Source on Monday.

According to the FBI office in Anchorage, the attempted bank robbery occurred last Thursday around 5:30 p.m.

Officials said the woman gave the note to an employee and then verbally demanded money.

“The unknown suspect then grabbed the employee’s note and fled the area on a bicycle,” FBI officials wrote in an email.

The FBI says no money was stolen.

The suspect is described as a woman about 1.50 meters tall. At the time of the attempted robbery, she was wearing a dark winter coat with “FedEx” printed on the back. She also wore thick gloves and a face mask.

“She was wearing a FedEx jacket, but we have no information to suggest a connection,” Pomerantz said.

Current FBI data from 2022 shows that more than 1,700 banks or armored transport vehicles were robbed in the United States this year, that men rob banks far more often than women, and that a payment order was used in more than 1,000 bank robberies.

According to 2022 FBI data listed online, by geographic region, the Pacific states of California (172 robberies), Oregon (28) and Washington (45) have more bank robberies than Alaska (5) or Hawaii (1).

In 1934, robbery of a national bank or a state bank of the Federal Reserve System became a federal crime. The law was soon expanded to include bank burglaries, theft, and similar crimes, which the FBI assumed jurisdiction over.

The FBI is asking anyone with information about Thursday's attempted bank robbery to contact the FBI's Anchorage Field Office by calling (907) 276-4441 or submitting tips online at tips.fbi.gov.

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