Detectives say the man - armed, unmasked and undaunted - eludes them again after holding up a SunTrust in Largo.
By LEANORA MINAI
Published June 26, 2003
[Pinellas County Sheriff's Office]
A bank robber who police say is Steven Michael Aitken climbs over the counter Wednesday at the SunTrust on Walsingham Road. No one was hurt.
Steven Michael Aitken
LARGO - It was classic Steven Michael Aitken, in the words of one detective.
Hands in his slacks, Aitken strolled into the bank and waited until a teller invited him to the counter. As Aitken approached, a telephone started ringing.
"Go ahead, answer the phone," Aitken told the teller.
"That's okay," the teller replied, pointing to the bank manager in a glass office. "She'll get it."
As the manager picked up, Aitken pointed a silver .45-caliber handgun, vaulted the counter and ordered everyone to the floor, detectives said.
Aitken got away in a tan pickup with a bag of cash.
No. 6, in six months.
No one was hurt during the robbery Wednesday at SunTrust, 13075 Walsingham Road. But it was a bold hit - broad daylight, in a busy strip mall while Albertsons shoppers loaded groceries in cars and workers herded carts.
"This is someone who does not mask up," said Pinellas sheriff's Sgt. Tony Vinson. "This guy could care less if the cops know who he is. That's about as brazen as you get."
Until Wednesday, all of the banks have been in St. Petersburg. During one hit, Aitken fired rounds into a drawer and cabinet, police said. After another, he shot at an officer before vanishing in a mobile home park.
"This is a very dangerous man," Vinson said.
Aitken, 36, has lived in St. Petersburg all of his life, except for 10 years in state prison. He was convicted on charges of kidnapping a St. Petersburg boy and fondling himself in front of him.
When Aitken was released in 2000, he came back to St. Petersburg and worked as a handyman and at 7-Eleven. But last winter, Aitken went on a crime tear, stealing thousands of dollars from employers and from an aunt.
No one close to him has seen him since, police said.
About 1 p.m. Wednesday, Aitken was seen driving around the strip mall in Largo, according to a videotape from a camera outside the Albertsons. He then pulled up to the front door of the bank.
"He enters the bank. Very cool, collected, friendly," said Vinson, the sheriff's sergeant.
He looked like a customer. Aitken wore a watch on his left wrist, dark slacks, a short sleeve button-down shirt, loafers. A blue ball cap on his head said "NAVY."
Only one customer was in the bank, standing at the teller counter. Aitken waited, hands in his pockets.
"Can I help you?" the teller asked, according to detectives.
A telephone was ringing as Aitken approached the counter. The bank manager in a separate office picked up, and Aitken jumped the counter, clutching a handgun. "He pays no attention to the manager," Vinson said. "He doesn't even turn around and look at her."
Aitken asked a teller for keys to the money drawers and stuffed cash into a bag. By this time, the bank manager had pressed the silent alarm.
"Within a minute, he's in his truck and gone," Vinson said.
Aitken was last seen driving north on 131st Street in a pickup without a license tag.
Detectives are investigating whether the truck Aitken was driving was stolen. In the five St. Petersburg robberies, which began Jan. 14, Aitken stole cars, then drove straight to the banks, police said. He later abandoned the vehicles.
Three minutes after the robbery at SunTrust in Largo, a deputy arrived, followed by eight to 10 more who searched the surrounding neighborhood. A helicopter circled for 32 minutes.
No Aitken.
Detectives say Aitken could have easily slipped into one of the residential areas off 131st Street. He could have driven anywhere.
"How far did he get in two minutes?" asked sheriff's Detective Tim Goodman. "He could have gotten a couple of miles away, depending on traffic and which way he went. It makes it tough."
- Leanora Minai can be reached at minai@sptimes.com or 727 893-8406.
Six robberies
Jan. 14: SouthTrust, 4100 Fourth St. N, at 2:49 p.m.
Jan. 14: First Community Bank, 6100 Fourth St. N, at 2:55 p.m.
March 20: Mercantile Bank, 425 22nd Ave. N, at 10:30 a.m.
April 17: Bank of America, 1300 66th St. N, at 11:30 a.m.
May 9: Wachovia, 3131 66th St. N, at 2:55 p.m.
June 25: SunTrust, 13075 Walsingham Road, at 1:05 p.m.
How you can help
A $9,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of Steven Michael Aitken. Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to call the St. Petersburg Police Department at (727) 893-7780. The lead detective, James Shakas, may be reached at (727) 893-4911. Also, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office can be reached at (727) 582-6200.
