A masked man walked into the PNC Bank branch on N. 124th Street in Wauwatosa Saturday afternoon, handed a teller a note demanding money, and drove off with an undisclosed amount of cash before officers could arrive. No one was hurt in the robbery, and the suspect remains at large as police continue to search for him.
According to WTMJ, the man presented a note to a bank clerk, received an unknown amount of cash, and fled in a vehicle before officers could respond. Wauwatosa police responded to the robbery at the PNC Bank on 124th Street and are still seeking the suspect. Separately, WISN 12 News reports that the initial emergency call came in just after 1 p.m. Saturday, and that the suspect was captured on the bank's surveillance footage.
The branch, located at 2360 N. 124th St., has been hit before. Court records reviewed by the outlet show a masked suspect robbed the same PNC location in October 2019, demanding cash from tellers and getting away with $1,989 before facing charges in Milwaukee County; that suspect was held on $5,000 bond, per the same account.
A Corridor With a History of Getaways
The N. 124th Street corridor along the Wauwatosa border has drawn robbers before. A December 2018 robbery at a nearby Landmark Credit Union sent Wauwatosa police on a chase into neighboring Butler, with officers attempting a traffic stop near 124th and Hampton before the suspect was caught, according to the station's report from that incident. The stretch offers quick arterial access that has aligned with past getaway routes in the area.
It is unclear whether investigators believe Saturday's robbery is connected to that history or to a separate Milwaukee-area bank robbery in June that ended when the suspect's getaway car crashed into a street light pole during a high-speed police chase, a case also captured on surveillance video. No connection between the incidents has been confirmed, and it remains an open question whether the FBI has formally joined the Wauwatosa investigation or what physical description or vehicle details may emerge from the bank's footage.
What the Suspect Could Face
Because PNC Bank is a federally insured institution, the case falls under concurrent jurisdiction between local police and the FBI, which has exercised authority over bank robberies since 1934, per the agency's own guidance. Under Wisconsin law, robbery of a financial institution is a Class C felony that carries up to 40 years in prison and a $100,000 fine, according to the Wisconsin State Legislature. Federal charges under 18 U.S.C. § 2113 could add up to 20 years in federal prison for a non-violent robbery, as outlined by the FBI.
A Rare Crime, But Still a Local Concern
Physical bank robberies have plummeted nationally over the past three decades. FBI Bank Crime Statistics show federal bank crime violations dropped to 1,362 in 2023, including 1,263 robberies, an 83% decline from the 1992 peak of 9,540 robberies. Even so, clearance rates remain high: security research from Pinkerton indicates roughly 60% of bank robbery cases are solved, with about 58% of robberies nationwide involving a written demand note similar to the one used in Saturday's incident, and most such crimes lasting under five minutes.
Locally, Wauwatosa has recorded relatively modest violent crime levels. FBI data compiled for 2024 by OpenCrime shows the city logged 23 robbery incidents and 97 total violent crimes, a rate of 206.5 per 100,000 residents that sits below the national average of 359.1. The 124th Street PNC branch has also taken on added significance as nearby competitors thin out — federal banking records reviewed by BranchWatch show PNC closed its Bluemound Road branch in Brookfield in March 2025 and its West Lisbon Avenue branch in Milwaukee in February 2026, part of a broader wave of branch closures the company has made nationwide since 2020.
Wauwatosa police have not released a physical description of the suspect or additional details from the bank's surveillance video. Anyone with information is asked to contact police as the investigation continues.
