DAVENPORT, Iowa – Three banks were robbed while President Bush and Democratic nominee John Kerry (search) were holding events just blocks from each other Wednesday morning.
The Ralston Credit Union was robbed at 10:45 a.m. as the president's event was under way at LeClaire Park (search) in this eastern Iowa town, said Davenport police Capt. David Struckman.
The next robbery, at First National Bank, happened at 11:23 a.m., followed by a third at 11:45 a.m. at Southeast National Bank, said Struckman, who also served as the department's liaison to the U.S. Secret Service during the visits from the two political leaders.
Kerry's economic forum at River Center (search) started late at about 10:40 a.m.
No one was injured in the robberies. Authorities weren't releasing details on what weapons may have been used or how much money was taken.
"I'm sure they were counting on the fact that we were short-handed, but we weren't," said Struckman, adding that the patrol was at normal levels. "The only thing we had to do was pull criminal investigators."
Struckman said authorities had a suspect in custody for the first robbery. He said the description of a suspect in the second robbery didn't match the first.
Struckman said he didn't think the robberies were related.
Police Lt. Don Gano said a package left unattended in downtown Davenport for half an hour also raised concerns, "but it turned out to be nothing."
"As far as I know, everything went OK," he said of the dual visits.
Thousands of political supporters attended the two events and officers from the Bettendorf police department, Scott County sheriff's office and Iowa State Patrol, as well as other smaller agencies in the area helped with motorcade traffic.
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