A bomb scare and robbery at Chemical Bank created a great deal of excitement at our office just next door. The police quickly gained control of the situation, which pretty much locked us into our office. Fortunately we are housed in a concrete reinforced bomb shelter.

Reporter Craig Haupert was quickly on the scene as well, and Chief of Police James Millin first reported that there was a bomb scare.

Later, I received a Facebook notification from the City of Niles that there was arobbery. By the way, the Niles Facebook is outstanding and well worth “liking.”

They post good information on a regular basis.

I was also getting phone calls from the public with questions and rumors about hostages. Part of our mission is to get the facts out as soon as possible to avoid rumors and scares.

Police work has to be extremely challenging especially in a highly stressful situation like Friday’s robbery. When is the right time for the authorities to release information without creating damage to the case? That would make a story I’d be interested in reading.

This whole event played out slowly just outside of our window. There appeared to be great cooperation between the Berrien County Sherriff’s office and the Niles Police department. The county rolled out its robot to check out the bomb. I am still curious to know what was found in the bag. We hope to find out soon. Then someone from the sheriff’s department slowly got into a futuristic protective garb to further investigate. All of this was like a scene from an action movie.

I am also curious as to how much was stolen, although I doubt that information will come out until this individual is caught and brought to trial. The good news is that no one was injured. From where I sat, I was truly impressed with how our police department handled the situation.