William Westhoven

@WWesthoven

Update: Denville bank robbery suspect in custody; read story http://dailyre.co/1zrxyWq

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DENVILLE - Authorities from multiple law-enforcement agencies are investigating a bank robbery that took place Saturday morning at TD Bank.

Denville Police Chief Christopher Wagner was at the scene and confirmed a robbery had occurred at the TD Bank on the corner of East Main Street (Route 53) and Luger Road. Wagner also said the FBI had been notified of the robbery.

Wagner and Morris County Prosecutor Fredric Knapp later issued a release describing an Asian male, approximately 6 feet tall, who entered the bank at about 10:09 a.m. and demanded money. The suspect was wearing a black knit cap, black jacket, black gloves, a yellow scarf and sunglasses.

VIDEO REPORT: >> http://dailyre.co/1AVON6d

According to the release, the suspect is believed to have fled from the scene in a black, four-door sedan with tinted windows and chrome trim around the windows. The vehicle proceeded on Route 53 South towards Morris Plains.

Law-enforcement agencies responding and investigating include the Major Crimes Unit of the Morris County Prosecutor's Office, the Denville Police Department, the Morris County Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigation Section, the New Jersey State Police and the FBI.

PHOTO GALLERY: >> http://dailyre.co/1AVNy7g

Prosecutors also issued surveillance photos with the release. Anyone with information about this robbery, including the identity of this male, is asked to call the Morris County Prosecutor's Office at 973-285-6200, the Denville Police Department at 973-627-4900 or Crimestoppers at 973-267-2255.

Denville police were the first to respond, according to salesmen across the street at the Fiat of Morris County dealership.

"We did not see (the robbery)," one of them said. "We get a lot of sun through the front window in the morning. We didn't know anything was going on until we saw police cars."

TD Bank is open seven days a week and was scheduled to open Saturday at 8:30 a.m.

An attendant at the Shell service station across the street also said he did not see anything until the police began to arrive.

By 10:30 a.m., Parsippany police had joined the response, as did a single uniformed state trooper who said he heard the call in his car while on the way to work. Police at that time were denying entry into the building, saying "The bank is closed."

Inside, detectives could be seen interviewing what appeared to be bank employees. One detective later accompanied a young woman out to the parking lot, where they talked while examining two cars parked in the lot.

Several more investigators from the Morris County Sheriff's Department and Morris County Prosecutor's Office arrived over the next hour. Two of them donned rubber gloves and one photographed the entire exterior of the building and surrounding property.

Bank employees got in their cars and left the property shortly after 11:30 a.m. Some investigators also began to leave at this time in vehicles that had been blocking the main entrance. Wagner then blocked the entrance with police tape as rubbernecking drivers slowed down to see what was going on.

Calls to TD Bank at 12:30 p.m. were met with a busy signal.

Staff Writer William Westhoven: 973-428-6627; wwesthoven@dailyrecord.com.