Summit County Sheriff's detectives are looking for a bank robber who hit a Manchester Road bank Thursday afternoon..

Shortly before 3pm., the suspect entered the PNC Bank in Coventry Township and handed the teller an envelope. The envelope contained a note which demanded cash. The suspect fled the bank on foot with an undisclosed amount of money.

Sheriff's Inspector Bill Holland says the suspect is white, standing 5' 8" tall , weighing between 165 and 190 pounds with dark hair and facial hair, and appeared to be between the ages of 40 and 50. Bank security cameras recorded good quality pictures of the robber.

Anyone with information on the robber is asked to call the Summit County Sheriff's Department.

Scratch another pot-growing operation off the list. Summit County deputies, working with the county Drug Unit, dismantled a marijuana growing farm inside a home at 904 Johnson Street in Akron.

Police snagged 68 pot plants, about six pounds of marijuana, growing gear along with two handguns and two shotguns. Charges are pending but Children's Services was called in because a four-year old child was living at the home.

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(Summit County Sheriff) The Summit County Drug Unit received information in regards to a marijuana grow operation at 904 Johnson Street in the City of Akron. The Summit County Drug Unit initiated an investigation and on April 30th, they conducted a search of the residence.

The search of the residence yielded 68 marijuana plants, approximately 6 pounds of marijuana, lamps, filters, 2 handguns, and 2 shotguns. Summit County Children’s Services was notified in regards to a 4 year old child that was located at the residence. Charges are pending the outcome of the investigation.

Summit County sheriff's deputies have run across five meth labs since Friday, and arrested five people connected to three of them.

Two of the labs were found at houses in Barberton on Harding Street and East State Street, and two more were found in New Franklin at Route 619 and Eastern Road, and on West Turkeyfoot Lake Road. Another was found by sheriff's deputies in a car at the Avon Trailer Park in Green.

Two of the labs were discovered by two different landlords. And Summit County Sheriff's Inspector Bill Holland says landlords are actually on the front lines in the fight against meth.

"They notice when they go to the rental house and they see the components or they smell something strange," Holland tells AkronNewsNow.com. "Or they see a dumpsite in a ditch, they know to call law enforcement and we come and take away those dangerous chemicals before they get into the wrong hands."

Holland says they're helping to educate business and property owners to spot trouble.

A student at Brown Mackie College has a lot more to worry about now than just his grades.

Summit County Sheriff's Inspector Bill Holland says a flash drive, left in a computer at the college in Akron on Wednesday, belonged to 27-year-old Christopher Hill of New Franklin.

When officials tried to determine who it belonged to, by looking at the contents of the drive, they found what appeared to be child pornography.

Akron Police started the investigation, then contacted the Sheriff's Office since Hill lives in New Franklin.

He was arrested at his home Thursday, and charged with Pandering Obscenity Involving a Minor. Officials also confiscated other items at his residence, but Holland did not reveal whether those also contained child porn.

Additional charges may be coming.

Holland says Hill was a student at the college, and there was also college-related material on the flash drive.

Summit County Deputies putting a Springfield Township man behind bars for pretending hi's one of them.

The white "Crown Vic" was spotted in the Giant Eagle parking lot in Green, with gear inside typically used by police including emergency flashing lights, police radios and even a dash cam. Adding insult to injury, the vehicle's license plates were suspended.

You may have heard about recent meth lab busts where young children were taken into protective custody.

Summit County Children Services officials say the number of children taken into custody as a result of substance abuse by their caregivers is up - it's up a lot in the first two months of this year.
Children Services executive director John Saros tells AkronNewsNow.com that 35 more children have been taken into protective custody just over the past two months compared to the past, due to some form of parental substance abuse...not just meth, but also opiates and heroin.

"And it is of a significant concern to us," Saros tells AkronNewsNow.com, "because this is a pattern or a trend line that is at variance with what we've experienced over the last several years, during the first two months of the year."

Saros says it's harder and harder to spot in-home meth labs due to newer methods of making meth - the so-called "one-pot" method doesn't produce as much smoke and can be better hidden.
He says Summit County Children Services is using federal grant money to fund a program that will help link parents with substance abuse problems with help to overcome that, and to keep families together.

"And then we'll be able to begin to work together with them on that issue," Saros says, "and we'll have an array of services that will focus directly on the issue of that substance abuse problem."


The agency's goal is to stabilize families and get help for parents and children.
Summit County Juvenile Court has also applied for a grant to start a "drug court".

Summit County authorities are educating the public on the dangers of "one-pot" meth labs and the effects they have on families .

Appearing on the 1590 WAKR Ray Horner Morning Show, Summit County Sheriff's Inspector Bill Holland says these labs are shifting away from the "chemistry set" look and are commonly made in 2-liter bottles of  pop.

"The one-pots can be carried around in backpack, toted in the trunk of a car, so they're very portable, which is good for the meth cook and bad for law enforcement and the general public," Holland says.

On Wednesday, the Summit County Sheriff's Department was alerted about a Stow boy who showed up to school smelling like chemicals which eventually led to authorities finding a meth lab in the basement of the boy's home.

All five children living in the home were taken by Summit County Children's Services.

Holland says there is a distinct odor associated with meth labs that people should look out for.
 

"There's some very, very strong chemicals that are used to manufacture meth, things that are purchased in local hardware stores," he said.

"Some people describe the odor as cat urine, which is very pungent and easily detected."

Inspector Holland says a lot of times, the Sheriff's Department and other law enforcement agencies get tips on these meth labs because of the smell.

Holland says the attraction for addicts to manufacture meth is that they make it to fuel their own addictions.

He says its important for law enforcers to educate the public, parents, school personnel and others on what to look for in regards to meth labs so people don't get injured.

The Summit County Sheriff’s Department didn't take long to arrest an alleged bank robber.

The U.S. Bank in the 3100 block of Manchester Road in Coventry Township was robbed shorlty after 9:30 Friday morning.

The suspect gave the teller a note that demanded money and further instructed them not to use a dye pack. The suspect fled the scene on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash.

A Sheriff's detective and deputy were in the area and responded to the scene. They noticed a man who matched the description of the bank robbery suspect. He was found with items connecting him with the robbery

Zachary Green, age 22 of Akron, was arrested and charged with Aggravated Robbery. Further charges may be pending the outcome of the investigation.

A suspect in several car thefts in Green led deputies on a two-mile foot chase before he was arrested.

The Summit County Sheriffs office says they responded to a rash of six thefts over the weekend. Early Saturday morning, deputies noticed a man with a black backpack walking along Koons Road.

The man fled into the woods when confronted. Deputies set up a perimeter around the area, while others gave pursuit on foot.

28-year-old Timothy Hicks Jr of Struthers was apprehended after the chase, which went 2.5 miles. Deputies found some of the stolen property on him.

Turns out Hicks went AWOL from the Oriana House, a local community corrections program.

Hicks is charged with theft and obstructing official business.

An arrest has been made in connection with the murder of an Akron man.

Officers from the Barberton Police Department, the Barberton Police Department SWAT Team and the Summit County Sheriff’s Office arrested 52-year old John Yanik of W. Turkeyfoot Lake Road  Thursday for his alleged role in the murder of 36-year old John Smith of North Canton .

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification along with the Barberton Police Department are currently investigating.

Check back with AkronNewsNow.com for more information as soon as it becomes available.