By Doug Page
Dayton Daily News
DAYTON, Ohio — A retired Dayton police detective, held in the Guernsey County Jail on $1 million bond, is to be arraigned in Cambridge Municipal Court this morning on bank robbery charges.
According to Cambridge police, David M. Hirst entered the U.S. Bank, adjacent to the county courthouse, around 12:45 p.m. last Thursday. He handed a teller a note demanding cash, then fled out the back door with the money. Hirst was confronted by a Cambridge officer who was responding to a call from the bank. Hirst — armed with loaded .40-caliber Glock and .380-caliber Ruger handguns — was taken into custody without incident. He told officers he had an explosive device.
The area was evacuated for several hours while the Columbus bomb squad assessed the device. The bomb squad destroyed the device, which was determined to be a fake, according to the FBI, which is assisting local authorities.
Hirst’s attorney, Nicholas Gounaris of Dayton, declined comment as has Hirst’s wife.
Hirst, who turned 49 in jail, retired from the Dayton department in November 2011 after 25 years. He was twice commended for arresting bank robbers and had no written disciplinary measures when he retired, according to his personnel record.
Following his arrest, the FBI searched Hirst’s Dayton home in the 1000 block of Phillips Avenue, FBI agent Eric Thomas of the Dayton office said. The Day-ton bomb squad entered the house first, looking for explosives. None were found. Once the house was cleared, FBI agents gathered evidence.
Hirst is a 1982 graduate of Trotwood-Madison High School and earned an associate degree from Sinclair Community College.