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The search continues today for two men suspected of robbing the Leesburg branch of National City Bank at gunpoint Tuesday morning and exchanging gunfire with police during a pursuit into Elkhart County.
Police said the men should be considered armed and dangerous and should not be approached. Anyone with information about the robbery or the suspects should contact the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department at 267-5667 or any law enforcement agency.
The ongoing investigation into this incident is being handled jointly by several agencies, including the KCSD; Milford, Nappanee, Syracuse and Warsaw police departments; Indiana State Police; Elkhart County Sheriff's Department; and the FBI.
The FBI involvement comes at that agency's discretion. Kosciusko County Sheriff Aaron Rovenstine said the FBI must be notified of all bank robberies and whether the bureau takes part in the investigation is decided by the FBI.
"They've taken a great interest in this," Rovenstine said. "They're taking it on full full force and have been a great help."
The robbery suspects allegedly entered the South Main Street bank in Leesburg at 10:30 a.m. and demanded that the manager cooperate. The two men were allegedly armed with military-style rifles and were wearing camouflage clothing. They fled the bank with an undisclosed amount of cash and were driving a red mini van. That vehicle was later found burned in a wooded area along CR 800N, near CR 150W.
Officers throughout the county were attempting to locate the suspects' vehicle and, shortly after the robbery, Milford town marshal Dave Hobbs encountered a full-size red or maroon GMC extended-cab pickup from his observation point at CRs 1050N and 300W.
When Hobbs approached the driver's side of the truck to question the driver as to whether he saw the suspect vehicle, Hobbs saw a passenger lying down on the seat pointing a rifle at him.
According to a Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department press release, Hobbs "took an immediate defensive posture and exchanged fire with the suspects." The truck was struck in the windshield and rearview mirror and, police believe, there may be damage to the driver's side door. Hobbs' police car was struck twice by rounds fire by the suspects, who sped away from the intersection. Hobbs pursued the vehicle, but the suspects were able to evade him.
Hobbs, a 25-year veteran of the police force and a military veteran of the Vietnam War, said that although his adrenaline was up, "I've been in worse situations than that. ... Survival is only as good as you are."
The suspects' vehicle was last seen traveling northbound on Elkhart CR 13, just north of the Gravelton area of Kosciusko County.
Another vehicle the suspects may have been traveling in, a green Pontiac Bonneville SSE, was located this morning in a wooded area off CR 150W, north of CR 300N.
