Armed Robber Might Still Be Loose, Probably Isn't, Police Say

It's possible there's an armed bank robber in Lower Merion Township. It's possible there isn't. At the moment, that's all we know.

According to Lower Pottsgrove Police Chief Michael Foltz, while evidence is piling up up that there were only three men involved in the Wednesday robbery of National Penn Bank in Lower Pottsgrove—and not the four police initially believed were a party to the crime when they shut down the area of Montgomery Avenue and Spring Mill Road for a manhunt for the missing, and possibly nonexistent, crook that afternoon—he said his department is still investigating the possibility of a fourth man.

"We know we have three suspects in custody," Foltz said on Thursday. "The [existence] of a fourth one, we're still unable to confirm."

Foltz explained that Lower Merion and Upper Merion Police established a secure perimeter shortly after police arrested three of the alleged robbers in Greenwood Court in Lower Merion Township following a car chase. 

But while it seems unlikely to him that the fourth robber could have eluded police, the witness who spotted a fourth man in the car is a reliable one, according to police: an off-duty police officer.

"We're still trying to find out if there's another accomplice," Foltz added.

The three men arrested and charged with robbery are identified in court documents as James Byrd, 25, Ishaq Ibrahim, 27, and Kelani Laird, 31.

Patch will continue to follow this story.