Riverhead, Suffolk police searching for Wading River bank robber

(Update- 5:34 pm) Police have released a description of the suspect in the Wading River bank robbery Thursday afternoon. Police said he was a white male, possibly in his 40s, dressed in a dark-colored hooded sweatshirt, jeans and boots. Police said he entered the Bridgehampton National Bank in the Little Bay Shopping Center on Route 25A in Wading River at about 1:30 p.m. He handed a teller a bag and demanded cash. The teller complied with his demand and he fled the scene on foot with an undetermined amount of cash.

Riverhead and Suffolk County police are searching for a bank robber who hit the Bridgehampton National Bank branch in the Little Bay Shopping Center on Route 25A in Wading River this afternoon.

The robber was described as a white male, approximately 40 years of age, who was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt.

He did not brandish a weapon, Riverhead Police Det. Sgt. Joseph Loggia said.

The man made off with an unknown amount of cash and fled on foot. Town and county police K9 units and a Suffolk County police helicopter are scouring the area for the suspect.

Wading River Elementary School had an early dismissal as a result of the police activity.

The robbery occurred just before 2 p.m.

A Chase Bank branch on Route 25A in Setauket was robbed late yesterday morning.

In that incident, a man described as 5 feet 9 inches tall, between 20 and 30 years old, handed a teller a note demanding cash and indicating he had a weapon. He, too, was wearing a hooded jacket and also fled the scene on foot, through the bank parking lot to the rear of the building, according to Suffolk County Police. 

Detectives are asking anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS.

RiverheadLOCAL photos by Peter Blasl