Quite a few years ago (more years than I’d like to admit) I was a bank branch manager in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The day started out much like every other.
There were 4 tellers, all at their stations, behind bullet-resistant glass. My desk, on the other hand, sat at the end of the lobby, no walls, no door, no bullet-resistant glass. The morning had been rather slow when I heard a voice say ‘Give me all the money.” I looked up, rather annoyed, because I didn’t think this joke was very funny. It only took a few seconds to realize that this was not a joke. There was a young man at the first teller window and he repeated, “Give me all the money.”
My first thought was to try to make myself invisible as I sat there in plain sight with no protection around me. Since that was impossible, my second thought was to sit very still and perhaps he wouldn’t notice me. As I reached under my desk to push the silent alarm button, I noticed for the first time, the young woman at the second teller window.
I practiced my best mind control to send her a message to be quiet and not do anything crazy. I watched in horror as she slowly began backing away from the window toward the entrance. I kept thinking, “no, no, don’t move. Don’t startle him.” It was impossible for me to tell whether or not he had a gun but I assumed he did. I held my breath as the young woman finally reached the entrance.
Once at the door, she turned, slammed the door open and began screaming. This caught the attention of the robber as he stuffed money into his pockets. He quickly turned and ran for the door also. I immediately got up to lock the front door, as we’d been instructed to do if ever robbed. Peeking out I saw no sign of the young man but I did spot the young woman, running down the middle of the busy street, screaming and waving her arms.
For some reason, the police never responded to our silent alarm. All employees automatically began the robbery procedures that were reviewed every month. Without talking to each other, every employee began writing down a description of the young man while I called the main office to report what happened.
I first called 911 and then our main office to report to them what happened, and the officer there called the FBI
The FBI showed up at the wrong bank and completely confused the staff there when they came barreling in to investigate a robbery. By the time the FBI found their way to our branch, the guy had already been caught and was sitting in the back of the police car for the teller to identify him.
It seems the man had just been released from jail, which was just a few blocks from the bank. He didn’t have any money so he walked to the first bank he came to, robbed it, and then walked up the street. The police said it was once of the easiest capture of a bad guy that they had made for quite a while.
I never received an explanation as to why there was no response to our alarm, even though I pushed my button as did the tellers. Perhaps for Christmas we should have given the police officers a course on responding to alarms and given to the FBI a map so they can find their way to the next robbery.
P.S. I’ve often wondered what happened to the screaming woman in the street and how far she had to run before someone called the men in the white coats to escort her to a padded cell.
©Donna Hale Chandler
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