Seminole Bank Robber Captured

Pinellas County Deputies captured a man who admitted to robbing a Seminole bank on Wednesday.  

Raymond A. Schaeffer, 49, of St. Petersburg was arrested Thursday for the robbery of the Cornerstone Bank in Seminole, where he took an undisclosed amount of money.

During that robbery, surveillance video shows a man handing the teller a note demanding money. He implied he had a weapon, although no weapon was seen. On the video, he is wearing an orange jacket.

Deputies believe Schaeffer fled the bank on foot, running north from the area. Detectives searched several businesses north of the bank, looking for the suspect or witnesses.

The jacket and cap worn during the crime was located in a dumpster behind the Treasure Island Fun Center on Seminole. Detectives also found the note the suspect handed the teller inside one of the pockets of the jacket.

Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office Forensic Science Specialists were able to lift fingerprints from the note, matching those of Schaeffer.

Detectives searched several different addresses Schaeffer had used in the past. They eventually found Schaeffer at the West Care Facility at 1735 Martin Luther King Jr. Street South in St. Petersburg.

Once in custody, Schaeffer told detectives he robbed the bank to get money to "pay his girlfriend’s rent."

Deputies are also investigating an unsolved robbery of the Achieva Federal Credit Union in Largo on December 6. Schaeffer matched the description of the suspect responsible for that robbery, using a similar note to the teller. 

When detectives pointed out similarities in a picture of the suspect committing the Achieva robbery, Schaeffer said that was him as well. 

Schaeffer is currently in the Pinellas County Jail on two counts of Robbery. His bond is set at $60,000.