WASHINGTON — An ATM right outside of a Beltsville bank was being refilled with cash Friday morning when armed men robbed the guards who were handling the money, police said Friday.
“This is obviously a brazen robbery in the middle of the day,” said Jennifer Donelan, with the Prince George’s County police.
The police said two armed security guards were loading money into an ATM outside a bank on Baltimore Avenue around 10:30 a.m., when another vehicle pulled up to their armored truck.
The Washington Post reports that the thieves made off with about $200,000.
“We had a van that came up Rhode Island Avenue (and) came in the exit of the bank the wrong way,” Donelan said. “We know at least two gunmen jumped out of that van and demanded money from the armed security guards. They got the money; they got back in the van; the van took off.”
Donelan said the van was found close by, but the robbers are believed to have fled the area.
A third security guard, who was inside the armored truck when the heist happened, saw the crime and set off an alarm.
At least one other alarm went off inside the bank, where employees and customers also saw what was happening.
“Our detectives are working hand-in-hand with the FBI, as we do in all of these cases, but they have a 75 percent closure rate. These detectives close cases. These suspects need to know that,” said Donelan.
