Robber in Square Steals $4000 Cash From Charlesbank

A lone robber held up the Charlesbank Trust Company in Harvard Square yesterday, escaping with about $4000 in small cash.

Susan Karadizian, manager of the Harvard Square branch of the bank, told Cambridge police yesterday that at approximately 1:10 p.m. the hold-up man entered through the front door and approached a teller at the rear of the bank.

He placed an empty paper bag in front of the teller, Karadizian said, and asked the teller to empty her cash box into it.

The robber, who appeared to be unarmed, went back out the front door at the corner of Mass Ave and Boylston Street and escaped unchallenged, Karadizian told police.

At the time of the robbery, there was no uniformed guard in the bank, Fidele Centrella, detective for the Cambridge Police Department's criminal investigation bureau, said last night.

William H. Downey, an officer of the bank, had said earlier yesterday afternoon that the bank's security system had been "effective." He would not comment further on the bank's security arrangements.

Downey was unavailable last night for comment on Centrella's allegation.

At 8 p.m. last night, Centrella said, Cambridge police had not yet apprehended a suspect.

The FBI also began work on the case yesterday, he said, since the bank is federally insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

The robber wore a rust-colored jacket and his left hand was wrapped in an ace bandage, Karadizian told police.

He was approximately 5 ft. 6 in. tall, and weighed 130-140 lbs., she said.