Witness helps nab suspect in bank heist

HAMILTON — A quick-thinking witness helped Hamilton police nab a man who allegedly robbed a Hamilton bank Thursday afternoon.

Detectives arrested Chris Jones, 41, at a motel in Miami Twp. near the Dayton Mall with the help of an alert witness who provided police with a license plate number of the suspect’s getaway car.

Jones’ arrest Thursday evening came hours after he allegedly walked into First Financial Bank, 2344 Dixie Highway, at about 2 p.m. and demanded money from a teller and then fled north on Ohio 4 in a maroon vehicle with an undisclosed amount of cash, witnesses told police.

No weapon was shown, according to police.

Hamilton police detectives and Miami Twp. police officers took Jones into custody without incident. Jones is charged with one count of robbery, police said.

The man is the second Hamilton robbery suspect caught by police in as many days.

The Community First Pharmacy, 210 S. Second St., was rubbed at gunpoint Wednesday morning. Police arrested a suspect, Donald Lee Johnson, about seven hours later.