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Violent armed robberies outside banks in Delaware, Philadelphia spark warning from police
A warning for anyone taking cash out from a bank, as police are investigating a new rash of armed hold-ups, targeting victims in bank parking lots. Police say some of the robberies are violent.
NEW CASTLE COUNTY, Del. - A warning for anyone taking cash out from a bank, as police are investigating a new rash of armed hold-ups, targeting victims in bank parking lots. Police say some of the robberies are violent.
"We want the public to be very vigilant anytime they go to the bank cause they’re targeting bank customers in these bank parking lots," explained Corporal Amina Ali, with the Delaware State Police.
That’s exactly what FOX 29 was told last week when a crime spree of bank customers robbed was first reported, in Philadelphia and Cheltenham.
Detectives say it’s the same group in the same car, stolen in Philadelphia October 10th. They are said to be robbing customers on the way in and out of banks. Robberies have now occurred in New Castle, on Friday and a week ago.
"These suspects are believed to have ties to the tri-state area. So, anyone in Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, just be extra cautious until these suspects are taken into custody," Corporal Ali continued.
Cash-carrying customers targeted by trio of robbers outside local banks: police
Authorities in Philadelphia and nearby areas say bank customers with large sums of money are being ambushed in the bank parking lot by a group of armed robbers.
The same silver Honda Accord, with a Pa. plate MHF-6959 captured on surveillance in Cheltenham when it was used in the robbery of $70,000 in cash from a woman outside TD Bank on Cheltenham Avenue October 11th. They also got away with over $30,000 in jewelry, plus her keys and credit cards.
Friday, the same guys in the same car pulled guns on customers at three different Delaware banks within 80 minutes, between 12:30 and 1:50 in the afternoon, officials believe.
"The suspects targeted these victims as they exited the bank and they used a handgun to point at these victims, to make them afraid and hand over their money," Corporal Ali said. "There are four to five males wearing dark clothes and masks. There’s suspected to be four to five of them in the stolen vehicle carrying these crimes out. It’s not four or five of these coming out of the vehicle at the same time. For these robberies, it’s just two or three of them coming out. We say before you come out, it is glass, so it’s a great opportunity for to look out and see what the parking lot looks like before you come out."