HANOVER — The man arrested after a three-hour standoff with police in Hanover Monday afternoon is suspected of robbing a bank in the borough earlier that day, according to a police criminal complaint.
James Allen Brown, 49, was charged with robbery, issuing terroristic threats, theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property after allegedly robbing the Members First Federal Credit Union on the 1200 block of Carlisle Street Monday morning.
According to Hanover police, Brown entered the bank, approached a teller’s window and placed a check on the counter, face down. On the back of the check was a note that stated “Give me all the money in your drawer or die now.”
The teller told police she removed money from the drawer, at which point Brown reached over and grabbed it. As he left the bank, the teller said Brown told her she could keep the note, his driver’s license, and his social security card — all of which he left on the counter, according to police. The teller told police Brown constantly reached toward his waistband, as if he was reaching for a weapon.
Witnesses told police that Brown was seen fleeing in a vehicle with PA registration JZF8296. The driver of the vehicle was described as a white woman. Police ran the vehicle’s registration through PennDOT and found the vehicle was registered to Brown.
Police and bank security personnel reviewed surveillance footage of the robbery and found that the man caught on video matched the man in the driver’s license left on the counter. The name on the front of the check used to write the note upon was listed as Roxane Stidham. Bank employees told police that Stidham was Brown’s wife and co-owner of the Members First Federal Credit Union account. She had recently changed her last name to Brown, police say.
At 3:52 p.m., police observed a car matching the description of Brown’s vehicle in a parking lot of the 400 block of Pleasant Street. Brown was observed fleeing from the vehicle into a nearby residence. As officers arrived, a woman in the residence exited and was detained. She told police she had accompanied Brown to the bank earlier that day, according to the arrest affidavit.
According to an account of the ensuing standoff in the York Daily Record, Brown allegedly started a fire inside the home. After several attempts at negotiation, Brown allegedly left the home and was arrested. The standoff lasted about three hours.
