Robber hits credit union open 10 days

"It's not a very good welcoming to the neighborhood," said Cindy Curtis, a senior vice president of the Suncoast Schools Federal Credit Union.

By CARY DAVIS

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 22, 2000

LAND O'LAKES -- Instead of preparing to welcome customers to the grand opening of his new restaurant this weekend, Greg Carbonaro spent Tuesday afternoon thinking of ways to keep the bad guys out.

Excitement turned to worry for Carbonaro when someone robbed the Suncoast Schools Federal Credit Union, at 1837 Collier Parkway, early Tuesday afternoon. The credit union, which had opened for business 10 days ago, is located two doors down from Carbonaro's Pizza Suprema restaurant.

"It's very frightening, very frightening," Carbonaro said. "There's obviously a bad element around here. Who knows? This could happen to any of the local businesses."

An unidentified man walked into the credit union just before 1:30 p.m. and passed a note to a teller, the Pasco County Sheriff's Office said. The robber did not display a weapon.

Six employees and two members of the credit union were inside the business during the robbery, the Sheriff's Office said. There were no injuries.

The robber ran out of the credit union, which is just south of the intersection of Collier Parkway and State Road 54, after the teller handed him an undisclosed amount of cash.

Ground and air units from the Sheriff's Office searched the area for the robber but could not find him.

The suspect was described as a thin white man in his early 30s. He was last seen wearing a brown and white baseball cap, a white T-shirt with orange sleeves and blue jeans.

Later Tuesday, senior executives with the credit union, which has 23 branches in Florida, comforted employees and pondered how to prevent future robberies. Executives closed the credit union for the rest of the day.

Ken Spence, senior vice president of human resources and development, said an armed security guard would be posted at the credit union when it opened this morning.

"This comes as much of a letdown because we were all so excited" about the new branch, Spence said. "It's very scary. We don't have that many robberies."

The Land O'Lakes branch is the credit union's third in Pasco County, joining locations in Dade City and Port Richey.

"'It's not a very good welcoming to the neighborhood," said Cindy Curtis, another senior vice president.

Credit union member Ann Rivers pulled up to use the ATM Tuesday afternoon, only to find her path blocked by deputies and a ribbon of yellow crime scene tape.

"I'm a little bit shocked because it just opened," said Rivers, a Land O'Lakes retiree. "I hope this is the last time they get robbed."

Carbonaro wasn't taking any chances.

"It's prompted me to decide to put up surveillance cameras," he said. "I'll use every deterrent I can muster."

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