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Long range video of suspect ^

Long range video of suspect’s car ^

Extortions
An unidentified white male suspect has committed a series of extortions of banks and stores in Western Pennsylvania, beginning on Tuesday, 07/25/2000. He began with a store in McCandless, PA; next did a bank in nearby Ross Township, PA, later the same day. He hit next on Thursday, 07/27/2000, at a bank in Monroeville, PA. On Friday, 07/28/2000, he attempted to extort two banks in the Erie, PA, area — one in the city of Erie and one slightly south in Summit Township, PA.

M.O.
The suspect attempts to extort money from banks and stores by means of telephone bomb threats. He states that a bomb has been planted on the premises. He demands a specific amount of money, gives the employees a specified amount of time to comply, and demands that the money be placed in a particular location. He states that the bomb will be detonated if his demands are not met. Police searches of all the banks or businesses have found no explosive devices on or around the premises.

Description
A consensus by the victim call-takers indicates that the caller is a white male, possibly in his 20′s.

Photographs (Above)
The photographs shown above are long-range video shots of a suspect. These photos were located by McCandless Police detectives at a business in close proximity to the extortion victim’s premises on 07/25/2000. The same long-range video obtained the above photographs of the suspect’s car.

The suspect’s vehicle (on 07/25/2000) was silver in color and is believed to be a Dodge Stratus.

Although the above video shots are of poor quality, they appear to depict a white male who has a beard (but not mustache), who is bald or balding on top (or with head partially shaved), with possibly a tuft of hair at the front center of his head. At the present time, this individual is wanted by FBI for QUESTIONING.

The Penalty
Attempting to obtain money from a bank by means of extortion is a violation of the Federal Bank Robbery Statute, Title 18, United States Code, Section 2113(a). Regarding stores engaged in interstate commerce, interfering with or affecting interstate commerce by means of extortion is a violation of the Hobbs Act, Title 18, United States Code, Section 1951. Each of these violations is punishable under federal law by imprisonment for up to 20 years.

Contact
If you have any information concerning these crimes or concerning the identity of the individual in the above photographs, please call:
FBI-Pittsburgh, 412-471-2000 (24/hour)

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