By Jeffrey Jackson, Owatonna People’s Press

HOPE — A lone gunman entered the First National Bank in Hope just after the bank opened Friday morning, pointed a gun at a bank teller and demanded money before making off with an undisclosed amount of cash, law enforcement officials said Friday.

The man, who Steele County Sheriff Lon Thiele described as a Hispanic male, entered the bank at 8:31 a.m. Friday, just one minute after the bank opened to customers.

After pointing the weapon, described as a “black police-issue-style gun,” the man spoke in broken English, saying, “mo money, mo money,” the sheriff said.

After being handed the money, the man left the bank and fled the scene in what law enforcement officials are describing as a black Dodge Charger-like vehicle with dark-tinted windows and perhaps a spoiler on the rear. He was last seen southbound on 37th Avenue, which is also Steele County Road 14, traveling at a high rate of speed, Sheriff Thiele said.

Thiele described the suspect as a Hispanic man, between 20 and 30 years of age, 5-feet-5-inches to 5-feet-8-inches tall and with a heavy, stocky build. Witnesses said his face was round and his complexion and eyes were dark. He was wearing a hooded, fleeced sweatshirt with blue and green stripes and white trim on the bottom and blue latex gloves.

No one was injured in the incident, Thiele said.

“But the tellers were pretty shaken up,” the sheriff said.

The bank is a branch of First National Bank in Waseca, a family-owned and managed bank that also has a branch in Ellendale. After the robbery on Friday, the Hope branch was closed, with a sign directing customers to the Ellendale branch.

Bank president Bernie Gaytko declined comment.

Thiele said that the tellers pushed the alarm button immediately after the man left the bank, and law enforcement responded immediately.

In addition to the Steele County Sheriff’s Office, law enforcement personnel responded from the Owatonna Police Department, the Blooming Prairie Police Department, the Minnesota State Patrol, the New Richland Police Department, the Waseca Police Department, the Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI.

Kyle Loven, a spokesperson for the FBI, said that bank robbery is a federal violation and that the FBI has primary jurisdiction in most cases.