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At this time, the department's K9 unit was sniffing out the perimeter and the McKay Street parking garage.

UPDATE: Pittsfield Police Investigating Berkshire Bank Robbery

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
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It is believed that only this Berkshire Bank location is closed due to the robbery. McKay Street remains open to through traffic.

Updated with information from the Pittsfield Police Department: On Wednesday, Nov. 30, at approximately 09:21 a.m., Pittsfield Police Officers were dispatched to Berkshire Bank at 66 West Street for a hold up alarm.

Information from dispatch was that a robbery was in progress. According to witnesses at the scene, the suspect was described as a white man wearing a brown hat, black jacket, jeans, mask and sunglasses. 
 
According to police, the suspect had passed a handwritten note demanding money. The suspect fled the scene and headed toward the McKay Street parking deck. 
 
No cash was taken, no injuries were reported and no weapon was displayed. 
 
Video surveillance in the area is being reviewed and aiding in the investigation. Evidence was collected in the vicinity of the bank and surrounding areas. 
 
The investigation is being conducted by the Pittsfield Police Detective Bureau, Digital Evidence Unit, Drug Unit, K9 Unit, Anti-Crime Unit and uniformed patrol.
 
This remains an active investigation. 
 
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Police Department Detective Bureau (413-448-9705), call the Tip line (413-448- 9706), or send us a tip via text message by texting “PITTIP” and your message to 847411 (TIP411)
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Original Post: Wednesday, Nov. 30, at 10:37 am. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Bank's West Street location is locked down while police investigate a morning robbery via note pass.

Police vehicles have lined the surrounding area, and the bank's McKay Street entrance is secured with caution tape.

Police Capt. Thomas Dawley said the call came in around 9:20 a.m. while the robbery was in progress. He reported that the person fled the scene. According to police, the robber left a note at the bank demanding money. The amount of money taken is unknown, and there were no injuries.

"That's all we have right now, we're following up on some leads," Dawley said around 10 a.m.

At this time, the department's K9 unit was sniffing out the perimeter, and the McKay Street parking garage.

"We found some evidence. We don't know if it's related or not but we have the dog doing ... it's called an article search. So the dog is doing an article search right now in this parking deck and wherever it takes them," Dawley reported.

"We're also checking video right now from Berkshire Bank. Like I said, no one was injured, no threats, and we're just going to follow what we can. It's developing right now."

It is believed that only this Berkshire Bank location is closed due to the robbery. McKay Street remains open to through traffic. There are six Berkshire Bank branches in Pittsfield. 

This is the second bank robbery in the city this year. The Greylock Federal Credit Union on Kellog Street was robbed Aug. 8 and a suspect arrested 10 days later. The Berkshire Bank branch on Elm Street was robbed in September 2018 and the suspect apprehended within two hours. Both were cases of unarmed robbery in which a note was passed to a teller demanding money. 

In May, four people were arrested after an alleged fraudulent transaction at the Berkshire Bank in Great Barrington and charged with unarmed robbery.


Tags: bank robbery,   

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Lanesborough Passes 32 of 34 Articles at Town Meeting

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Voters approved 32 of the 34 articles on the warrant at the annual town meeting on Tuesday night at Lanesborough Elementary School.
 
More than 100 registered voters attended the meeting, which lasted a little more than two hours, to vote on the proposed fiscal 2025 spending plan, board and committee seat procedures, three articles related to short-term rentals, and various spending items. Voters rejected expanding a tax exemption to military parents and referred an accessory dwelling bylaw to the Planning Board. 
 
Voters approved a budget of $11,851,407. Of that is a net increase of $237,129 in education costs for the Mount Greylock Regional School District and McCann Technical School, less than the $271,478 increase in FY24. 
 
During the meeting, voters made two amendments, one for the Police Department budget and another for the recreation program budget. 
 
Voters added an additional $1,000 to the police budget so that the department can develop a police report in next year's annual town report. 
 
The report would provide "meaningful data that accurately captures what police work in Lanesborough entails. Such data would help me feel confident that we're funding our police at a level that meets the needs of a small town in a rural county," one voter said. 
 
An additional $3,800 was added to the recreation program budget to put the septic back online at Bill Laston Memorial Field. Park visitors currently have to use portable toilets. 
 
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