August 10, 2004

Winooski police have released a bank surveillance photo of a mugger caught-in-the-act hoping it could help get him identified. Police say the Winooski Banknorth surveillance camera caught this mugger in the act of robbing a woman making a video rental store deposit at 8:30 last Wednesday night. Police say the robber is 5-9 to 5-10, about 180 pounds with dark-hair and a beard. ((tape 028 tc 4:05 Dep. Chief Rich Benoit/Winooski Police: "We consider this to be very serious. I don't ever recall in the city of Winooski having a strong-armed robbery of this nature where somebody's attempting to make a deposit. And that's a particular concern. As we know, the drug scene's getting worse in this state of Vermont. We attribute this most likely to the drug-poblems we're having.")) Police say the thief fled in an older dark green Dodge Intrepid driven by an accomplice. The mugging victim was not injured. Anyone with information about the identity of the robbers is urged to call Winooski Police or Champlain Valley Crimestoppers.