Bank Employee Sensed Robbery Was To Take Place and Hid

A bank employee hid in a back room when she sensed something amiss about a customer who would not remove his motorcycle helmet after he entered the bank.

sheds more light on the helmeted bandit who robbed a Chase Bank branch on Dec. 8.

involving a white male wearing a black motorcycle helmet and armed with a handgun that had just fled the on foot. Police blanketed the area searching for the bandit with no success.

Approximately 15 people were inside the bank, including three customers, around 10:11 a.m. last Thursday. A teller told police that he and several co-workers saw a man wearing a motorcycle helmet enter the bank.

The man wore all black, including a black leather jacket, dark jeans, black steel-toe boots and black leather gloves. The teller said the man came directly to his window and pulled a small black gun out of his jacket pocket.

Police said the bandit pointed a gun at the teller and handed him a black drawstring bag stating, “money in the bag. Quick, quick.” While handing him the bag, the teller said the man turned toward a female coworker and ordered her to fill the bag as well.

The second teller told police she saw the robber point the gun at her co-worker. As she filled the bag, a bank employee inserted a dye pack when the bandit was looking, hiding it under packs of one hundred dollar bills.

When the tellers finished filling the bag, they gave it back to the man.

Other bank employees corroborated the bandit’s description.

Another teller working behind the corner saw the man enter the bank. When he did not remove his motorcycle helmet, she ran into the back room believing the robbery was about to take place.  She did not see the gun, police said.

Two more employees were standing just inside the bank entrance when the helmeted bandit entered the bank. One of them went immediately into the back office and called 911.

Police said there were five other bank employees inside the bank during the robbery, and three customers. None of them witnessed the robbery.

Employees told police that the bandit fled on foot. Police spoke to a witness who was sitting in his car facing north on the 9500 block of major when he saw a man turn the corner of the Chase building wearing a motorcycle helmet.

The witness said he watched the helmeted man get into a black car that took off before the passenger side door was completely closed. Police said the driver was described as a thin-faced, Hispanic man in his twenties and was wearing a black do-rag.

Police estimate the total heist to be around $23,000.