Police make fast arrest in Warren bank robbery

WARREN -- A man charged with robbing a downtown bank of $181 is in Trumbull County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bond after police said they caught him about one minute after the robbery.
Patrolmen Tim Parana and Mark Klaholz arrested Ashley Kirk, 27, of Elm Road Northeast, at 4:02 p.m. Thursday in the 300 block of East Market Street. Kirk fled on foot immediately after the robbery about 4:01 p.m. at the headquarters of First Place Bank, 185 E. Market St., police said.
Kirk gave a bank employee a note demanding money, and the clerk gave him the cash, police said, but the police report didn't indicate whether the robber said he had a weapon or anyone saw a weapon.
Police said they recovered the 32 $5 bills and 21 $1 bills in a bag Kirk was carrying. They also took into custody the demand note and a bank surveillance tape.
Kirk pleaded innocent at his initial court appearance by video from the jail before Judge Thomas P. Gysegem of municipal court. He'll be represented by the public defender's office, and his preliminary hearing is scheduled for 2:15 p.m. Thursday before Judge Gysegem.