Police scrutinize security footage to identify Atwater bank robber
Atwater police examined security-camera footage Friday to try to identify a man who robbed a bank this week by threatening to detonate a bomb.
Lt. Samuel Joseph said detectives also were looking at surveillance videos from businesses near the Merco Credit Union on Bellevue Road.
The bank was robbed about 12:30 p.m. Thursday when a man wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and black 49ers cap passed the clerk a handwritten note demanding money, according to police. Officers described him as a light-skinned male in his 20s.
“After he gave (the employee) the note, he started counting backward, we believe from 10, threatening to detonate,” Joseph said in a telephone interview. It was unclear whether the man had an explosive device.
The man fled with an undisclosed amount of money. No one was injured.
Investigators said it was too early to comment on whether he may have fled in a vehicle or whether he was possibly working with others in the heist.
Detectives believe the same man was spotted about 10 minutes before the robbery inside BBVA Compass Bank on Broadway Avenue in Atwater. Police said the man went into the bank, claimed he wanted to make a deposit, but then abruptly left after telling an employee he had forgotten his identification.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Atwater Police Department at 209-357-6394.
This story was originally published September 18, 2015 at 4:46 PM with the headline "Police scrutinize security footage to identify Atwater bank robber."