Shot fired in bank robbery

A bank employee was injured by flying glass during the robbery at Farmers National Bank.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Three gunmen, one of whom fired a shot while robbing a bank on Youngstown Road Southeast, apparently switched vehicles to elude authorities.
One bank employee suffered a minor injury when hit by flying glass.
It is not known how much money the men took.
Warren police Detective Jeff Cole said the men entered the Farmers National Bank branch at Youngstown Road and Central Parkway Avenue Southeast and ordered everybody inside to the floor around 4 p.m. Wednesday.
One of them fired a shot that shattered a glass divider between the main portion of the bank and the drive-through window. Police Chief John Mandopoulos said one female employee was injured by flying glass and was released after treatment at St. Joseph Health Center.
The robbers got some money, but it's not known whether it was given them by a teller or they took it out of a cash drawer, police said.
No note demanding cash was passed to a teller, Cole said.
They got into the van, which was later found to have been stolen in Youngstown, and fled. A witness, Cole said, got the description of the vehicle and it was broadcast to police.
While the men were making their escape, two dye packs exploded and the robbers threw some cash out of the van around Central Parkway, Cole said.
It's wasn't known Wednesday night if all of the money or only a portion of it was recovered.
Police conduct search
A door-to-door search began after police found the getaway vehicle, a turquoise Pontiac Transport minivan, abandoned in an apartment complex on Duke Street, off state Route 169 on the city's southeast side.
Police at the scene speculated that the thieves had a second getaway vehicle to take them out of Warren.
Mandopoulos said officers went door-to-door looking for the men and dogs were called in to search a nearby wooded area, all to no avail.
A thermal imaging device from the fire department was used in an attempt to pick up the robbers' trail through heat.
The search was called off about 5:45 p.m. Wednesday because of darkness and concern for the safety of residents and officers, Mandopoulos said.
About 50 police officers gathered in the area, some of them wearing helmets and carrying semiautomatic rifles.
As police gathered, residents came out of their apartments to watch what was going on.
Law enforcement officers from Hubbard, Ohio State Highway Patrol, U.S. Marshals Service, Mahoning Valley Violent Crimes Task Force and agents from the FBI and Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation were in the area.
Mandopoulos said anyone with information about the robbery should contact city police Lt. Gary Vingle at (330) 841-2656.
Mandopoulos said he will meet today with the city administrators and bank officials to see about setting up a reward fund for information.
yovich@vindy.com