PORTSMOUTH — The Portsmouth K-9 Team and Crime Scene Team helped police arrest a man who is suspected of having robbed Newburyport Five Cent Bank just before 2 p.m. Friday.



Jamie Pointer, 27, of 115 Ledgewood Drive in Portsmouth, who police say fled the scene on a bicycle after changing his clothes, was taken into police custody just after 3 p.m., according to Deputy Chief Corey MacDonald.



MacDonald said that detectives were able to work with bank employees to obtain photographs of the suspect for distribution to area law enforcement and media outlets.



Portsmouth Police Sgt. Aaron Goodwin and Detective Rochelle Jones recognized the pictures as a possible match to a subject who is “familiar to law enforcement,” according to MacDonald.



“Officers were asked to be on the lookout for that subject and anyone else possibly matching the description,” he said.



It was N.H. State Trooper Anthony Cattabrigga who located Pointer in the area of Grafton Road. He and Officer Andrew Wassouf detained Pointer, who was arrested and brought to the police station.

Charged with one count of robbery, Pointer was being held on $50,000 cash bail Friday night. He is scheduled to be arraigned Monday at 8:30 a.m. Officials did not know where the hearing would take place.



Newburyport Five Cent Savings Bank is located on the busy corner of State and Pleasant streets. Driving into the vicinity tourists are clearly visible. On Friday afternoon, one older couple was walking along with a map just a block from where the bank was robbed.



That concerned Brittany MacDonald, a bartender at The Rusty Hammer Restaurant and Lounge. Her restaurant is located directly across the street from the bank.



MacDonald did not hear or see anything unusual at the time of the bank robbery but said it was unusual something like that would happen around 2 p.m.



“It's kind of weird. It's downtown Portsmouth in the middle of the afternoon,” MacDonald said. “This time of year we get a lot of leaf peepers who come in when the kids go back to school.”



Patrons at The Rusty Hammer said the bank is new to the area and suggested maybe that is why it was targeted.

Patrons at State Street Saloon, which is also located directly across the street from the bank on a different block than The Rusty Hammer, also said they did not see or hear anything related to the robbery, but confirmed that the bank was just opened a few months ago.



One gentleman, Marty Sakevich, suggested the robber is someone who has experience committing crime.



“Think about it. You'd have to have a lot of knowledge robbing a bank in broad daylight,” Sakevich said.



Portsmouth police said if anyone has specific information about this crime they can call lead detective Rebecca Hester at 603-610-7649 or Portsmouth Police Dispatch at 603-436-2145.



