FBI: Escapee robs same bank 7 years later

The FBI is looking for a convicted bandit who escaped from a halfway house and then held up the same bank he robbed seven years ago.

Anthony Wayne Ransom, 44, was finishing up a 92-month sentence at a federal facility in North Philadelphia. On June 26, he went to work at a fast food restaurant in Willow Grove. But after finishing his shift, he did not return to the half-way house, said FBI spokesman J.J. Klaver.

On July 12, a surveillance camera captured an image of Ransom holding up a Citizen's Bank branch on the 2500 block of Welsh Road in the Northeast. Ransom, who wore a device on his head that looked like a spelunker's lamp, handed a teller a threatening demand note and fled with an undisclosed amount of cash, Klaver said.

It was an encore peformance for the bandit. In Aug. 2003 he had robbed the same branch, according to court records.

Ransom may be hiding out in the Jenkintown and Abington areas, the FBI says. He is described as African American, 6-foot-3, and 250 pounds. Though clean shaven, Ransom has worn a thick beard in the past, Klaver said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the FBI at 215-418-4000.