MANSFIELD, Ohio — An observant bank employee prevented a bank robbery Wednesday morning at the First Federal Bank of Ohio branch at 1495 Lexington Ave.
James Robert Dakin Jr., 44, of Xenia, was arrested Wednesday morning at the McDonald’s on Lexington Avenue after officers confronted him.
On Tuesday morning, a citizen alerted Mansfield Police of a suspicious person at First Federal Bank of Ohio located at 1495 Lexington Ave. Surveillance footage from the bank was reviewed.
Wednesday, officers responded to a second suspicious person call in the area after the bank employee saw the person around the bank again. Officers arrived and located Dakin. near First Federal Bank at the McDonald’s on Lexington Avenue. According to a press release, Dakin was the same person observed on the bank surveillance footage for the day before.
Officers found a loaded .22 caliber handgun in Dakin’s vehicle on Wednesday and he admitted to officers he had planned to rob the First Federal Bank that morning . Dakin was charged with having weapons under disability, a felony.
Investigation revealed Dakin had robbed the same First Federal Bank in 2002. He also robbed banks in Ashland and Lexington before being apprehended at the Grand Canyon. Dakin was convicted of armed robbery and sentenced to 14 years in a federal prison.
Capt. Bret Snavely commends the alert citizens who recognized the suspicious activity and alerted the police. This incident exemplifies the importance of community involvement in detecting and reporting crime for a safer community.
