Police are searching for the man who robbed a Cambria County bank at gunpoint on Thursday.


The AmeriServ bank in Lower Yoder Township was robbed about 10 minutes before it was set to close. An alarm alerted police of a robbery in progress.


West Hills Police Detective George Musulin said the robber was armed with a handgun and demanded money from a teller at the bank in Westwood Plaza.

Bank tellers told police the robber was about 5 feet 11 inches tall with light brown hair. At the time of the robbery, he was wearing an orange hat and wore a mask with a face drawn on it. The robber had the image of a Maltese cross on his left calf.


This is the second time in two weeks that the Westwood Plaza has been the site of an armed robbery. Police said the bank robbery may be connected to a robbery at Gallo's Newsstand on Aug. 28. Investigators said a man wearing a mask demanded money at Gallo's just moments before the store closed.


Musulin said people need to be ready for anything.


"The best advice I could give anyone is if somebody comes in and confronts them with a robbery, just give them whatever they want. Don't agitate them. Don't be argumentative with them. Just give them whatever they want. Your life is more important than anything they're going to take from you," he said.


The bank robber escaped with an undisclosed amount of money. Anyone with information is asked to call police.