Two campus robberies in two days: The “church lady bandit” grabbed most of the attention, but a separate “very, very violent” altercation sent one Ohio State Police officer to the hospital.

Last week’s bank robbery at the Union has police “keeping an open mind” about the suspect’s gender. Meanwhile, an attempted robbery about 24 hours later escalated when the suspect allegedly resisted arrest after being cornered in the basement of Dreese Hall.

The crimes, and their unusual elements, have OSU Police expecting quieter days ahead.

“It’s odd. There’s sometimes a string of crime, then all of a sudden, there will be a calm,” Lt. Rick Green of OSU Police said.

Green is leading the investigation for OSU Police of the robbery at the U.S. Bank branch at the Ohio Union on Wednesday. At 4:26 p.m., a woman passed the teller a note on a piece of cardboard demanding money. Although no weapon was visible, the note indicated that the woman was armed, according to the FBI.

After the teller turned over an undisclosed amount of cash, the robber fled.

Tracy Stuck, director of the Union, said in an e-mail that the Union, which houses a public safety substation, has emergency plans for “everything from fire evacuations to things like this robbery.”

She said the robbery was a reminder that the Union staff members need to review and inform each other of those plans. Overall, she said she was pleased with how the Union staff, police and bank staff handled the incident.

Robberies “are a part of the tellers’ training. They were well-prepared,” said Lisa Clark, assistant vice president of U.S. Bancorp media relations.

Green said the teller did the right thing by giving the robber the money. Police would not say how much money the robber stole, saying the crime is still under investigation.

“The teller didn’t escalate the situation — she did well,” Green said. “Their job is to comply, then it is our job to catch the suspect as soon as possible.”

The robber was last seen heading toward the Ohio Union North Garage, where OSU Police quickly converged and escorted cars out of the garage and searched for the suspect. An officer armed with a shotgun stopped a female driver at the garage exit but eventually allowed her to pass.

Meanwhile, the FBI closed the U.S. Bank branch to gather comments from the teller and find out how much money was missing. No one was harmed and no students were in the bank at the time of the robbery, said David Wiseley, associate director of the Union.

“We aren’t going to stop 100 percent of crime. It’s theoretically impossible,” Wiseley said, “We just have to do our best at protecting those who could be harmed.”

The suspect, who FBI described as 5-feet-5-inches with a medium build and in her late 30s, is thought to be the “church lady bandit.” The woman has been linked to six robberies since January 2006.

Police said they are “keeping an open mind” about the sex of the robber, whose signature costume is a curly wig, red-rimmed glasses and layers of dress clothes that can be removed easily.

“But all the information we have points to the suspect being a female,” Green said.

He said one detective is working full-time on the case and four others are helping. The FBI and Columbus Police are also working on the case.

“I have a really good feeling that we’re going to get this one,” Green said.

Police have received numerous tips through Crime Stoppers, Green said. Still, he asked anyone with information to call OSU Police or report anonymous tips to Crime Stoppers or the local FBI office.

At approximately 7 p.m. the day after the Union robbery, Joseph Gould walked into WiredOut, a tech store in the Central Classroom Building, maced employees and ran out with an undisclosed number of iMac computers, police said.

Employees called 911 and chased Gould, who hid in the basement of Dreese Hall. OSU Police confronted him there, and he became “very, very violent,” said OSU Police Chief Paul Denton, adding that confrontation landed one OSU officer in the hospital with a “badly hurt hand.” The officer was treated at OSU Medical Center and released. Gould was arrested and is charged with two counts of assaulting an officer, robbery and resisting arrest.