Commerce Bank robbed again

An armed man robbed the Commerce Bank Saturday afternoon, marking the third time the bank has been been hit since October. Two University Police officers arrested 42-year-old Dennis Jones for the robbery after they saw him running from the scene. Witnesses later identified Jones. Jones allegedly entered the bank, located at 3731 Walnut Street, shortly after 1 p.m. College of General Studies student Joseph Berger was standing in line next to Jones when he approached a bank teller. "He said 'Put the money in the bag. I'm serious, put the money in the bag,'" Berger said. Berger was surprised that Jones entered the bank without any kind of face covering. "I can't believe the guy was so blatant about it," Berger said. "How did he expect not to get caught? The guy must have been really desperate." According to police and eyewitnesses, one of the bank's tellers handed Jones the money, placing a dye bomb in the bag, as bank procedure dictates employees should do during a robbery. The dye stains the money and renders it useless. Jones then fled the bank, running west on Walnut Street. University Police picked him up near 40th Street. One of the bank's tellers chased Jones as he left the bank. Once Jones realized the bag contained a dye bomb, he allegedly threw the bag at the teller, setting off the bomb. Berger also claims that during the chase, Jones reached in his pocket, appearing to take out a gun. Jones was armed, and the gun's clip was discharged outside of the bank, but no one was injured, police said. The teller who chased Jones was not allowed to comment on the incident according to company policy, and Commerce Bank representatives were unavailable for comment. Commerce Bank was last robbed on December 7, 2000, when a man entered the bank and handed the teller a note demanding money. The suspect fled west on Walnut Street towards 38th Street, taking $2,000 in cash with him. The man was caught on both the bank's surveillance cameras, and Penn Police surveillance cameras outside the bank but was not arrested. On October 21, 2000, a man came into the bank wielding a simulated weapon and fled the bank with $700 in cash. The man was later arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for another bank robbery in southern New Jersey. He admitted to the Commerce Bank robbery, but the trial is pending and his name has not been released. Saturday's robbery also marks the sixth time Commerce Bank has been robbed in the past five years, with robberies in March 1996, March 1997 and July 1999.