State police are looking for a man who robbed the TD Bank office on Main Street in Barton Thursday at about 6 p.m.
Police did not disclose how much money was stolen.
The man, wearing a large black coat and a gray hoodie drawn tight over his masked face, entered the bank, threatened to use a weapon, and demanded money, according to a Vermont State Police press release.
After he got the cash from the tellers, he left the bank on foot. It’s unclear whether the robber actually showed a weapon. Because of the way he was dressed, no information is available about hair color and other physical details.
No one was injured in the robbery.
Thursday’s robbery comes after a breakdown in contract negotiations last month between the Barton Selectboard and the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department left the town with no regular police patrols.
The sheriff’s department, like similar agencies around the state, offers to contract with towns for police coverage. The more coverage, the bigger the contract.
Town officials took issue with proposed rate increases and complained that the sheriff’s department hadn’t been adequately patrolling the town, particularly during the evening.
Selectboard Chair Ken Mitchell-Eby said at the time that the board questioned Sheriff Jennifer Harlow’s credibility and criticized what he called a “lack of transparency” over a month of talks.
Harlow replied that the board’s actions were “unconscionable” and said her attempts to meet Barton’s requests have been futile.
Since Jan. 7, Barton hasn’t had a contract with a law enforcement agency for patrols. State police are now the primary service provider for the town, but typically acts in response to incidents, rather than patrolling.
Mitchell-Eby said Friday that state police had been more visible in town in the weeks since the sheriff’s contract expired, but he thinks regular patrols in town would discourage crime.
That was a point made by town officials during negotiations with the sheriff’s department, in which they pointed to other recent robberies in Barton.
“One has to think that if we had a presence, that there would be a decrease,” the selectboard chair said.
But even if all had gone the board’s way, it’s possible nothing would have been changed about Thursday’s robbery. During negotiations, the town had sought evening patrols only on Fridays and Saturdays — the time slots when most incidents in town occur. The bank was robbed on Thursday.
Mitchell-Eby said the town is looking at a few options for law-enforcement services but declined to offer specifics.
State police Detective Mark Pohlman said Friday afternoon that he had no updates on the case. Police ask anyone with information about the robbery to contact the Derby barracksat 802-334-8881.
Read the story on VTDigger here: State police looking for man who robbed TD Bank office in Barton.