Crime & Safety
Obama Mask-Wearing Bank Robber Back Behind Bars
Update: John Robert Griffin who had been missing from Concord's North End Unit since yesterday afternoon was arrested in Manchester.
Update, 10:47 a.m. on Dec. 22, 2017: John Robert Griffin Jr. was arrested at just before 6 p.m. on Dec. 21, 2017, and returned to the New Hampshire State Prison for Men in Concord, according to Jeffrey Lyons, a public information officer for the NH DOC. Griffin was found in Veteran's Park in Manchester by police. He was arrested without incident.
The original story is below.
CONCORD, NH — The New Hampshire Department of Corrections and NHSP are asking for the public’s help locating a walkaway from the community corrections facility in the North End Transitional Housing Unit in Concord. John Robert Griffin Jr., 57, of Manchester, left the facility at 9 a.m. yesterday to “look for employment,” according to Jeffrey Lyons, a public information officer for the NH DOC, but allegedly failed to return at the scheduled time he was required to return on Dec. 20, 2017. He was placed on escape status at 2 p.m.
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Editor's Note: This post was derived from information supplied by the New Hampshire Department of Corrections. It does not indicate a conviction. This link explains the name removal request process for NH Patch police reports.
Griffin is 5 feet, 7 inches tall, weighs around 185 lbs., and has gray hair and blue eyes. Griffin, who was living in Newport at the time, made headlines in 2013 for robbing a Bank of America location in Merrimack – disguised as President Barack Obama.
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After being convicted in Hillsborough County Superior Court-South for theft by unauthorized taking, he was sentenced to three to six years in prison, with six months suspended. He was admitted to prison in September 2015. In March 2016, Griffin was paroled but returned to serve a technical parole violation in June 2016. His maximum release date was September 2019.
The New Hampshire State Police and the New Hampshire Department of Corrections Investigations Unit are investigating, Lyons noted. Anyone with information on his whereabouts should contact their local law enforcement authority or the New Hampshire State Police.
Image via NH DOC and Merrimack Police.
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