Straight from the headlines and collected for the site, I am going to highlight some bank robberies from around Concord. In the past few months Concord has been hit with 4 bank robberies. From 6/27/08 to the most recent robbery on 8/25. 4 bank robberies within 2 months is a lot even by Concord standards. Thankfully there were only minor injuries in one of the robberies when the criminals decided to pistol whip a security guard and a bank teller. You can read more about these robberies at the end of this post.

This is a map of the area of the Concord bank robberies labeled based on date of the crime. I highlighted the last 3 crimes because of their accessibility to multiple freeways. Why is that important you ask? Let me explain. In a bank robbery the idea is to get in and out with as much cash as possible before the police show up. Thankfully with modern technology this deters most would be bank robbers. Between the silent alarms, dye-packs with GPS, cameras and a few other treats, banks are pretty well covered. This is not enough to keep some criminals away thought. So when they plan their crimes, they try to do them next to a freeway. I’ll let a former bank robber explain.

We could rob a bank today. The sunroof is wide open, the windows are rolled down, and the car is speeding north on I-80. We’re hugging the rim of the East Bay . “Oh, I know a good one to rob,” Joe Loya is saying above the sound of the wind, pointing ahead. “I used to go there all the time. It’s a Washington Mutual on San Pablo . I’ll tell you exactly why we’re going to rob it. … You always want to pick a bank near a freeway, but more importantly, once you get back on the freeway, you want to be close to a junction, where it splits or crosses with another freeway. Again, contingency — very important. When you run, you always want to have as many options as possible.” – Joe Loya

Having a bank near a freeway is a double edge sword, for normal law abiding citizens we usually go to the bank on the way to work or home and that usually involves a freeway. Its a convenience factor but to bank robbers, our convenience is really their escape route.

What to do if you’re in the bank during the robbery.

Based on the FBI statistics there is a bank robbery approx. every hour in the US. But lucky for us, most bank robberies are in the form of note passing. You know, man walks up to the counter and hands over a note saying ‘give me all your money, I have a gun.’ or something to that effect. You may not even know the bank was robbed until the criminal leaves in this case.

If for some reason you are in the bank at the time it is robbed, you should try to remain calm. Don’t pull any ‘point break’ heroism and just drop to the floor. Yes, hit the dirt. Don’t make any sudden moves, just put your hands in the air and get to the floor.The less of a threat you seem to the robber, the better. Chances are they do NOT want to hurt anyone, they just want the money and to get out of dodge.

The best thing you can do is to get some information that you can tell the police when they arrive.

• Clothing – look for layers under the visible layer (the outer layer will come off)
• Physical characteristics – height, weight, eyes, hair, scars/tattoos
• Automobile description
• Direction of travel
• Weapons – the police need to know if the robber is armed

Recent Bank Robberies in Concord

06/27/2008

CONCORD — A Washington Mutual bank teller and a security guard were taken to a hospital after they were assaulted during a takeover style robbery Friday afternoon.

The robbery was reported at 4:06 p.m. at the bank at 4390 Clayton Road, Concord police Sgt. Matt Morrissey said.

Police said two men, at least one of them armed with a handgun, walked into the bank and attacked the security guard.

The robbers grabbed cash and then ran outside the bank and down Bel Air Drive, where they split up. Witnesses along the street told police they saw one of the suspects running down the street with a smoking backpack, “consistent with dye pack,” he said.

They got into two separate cars, a black Nissan and a gold Toyota Camry.

Both robbers were in their late teens or early 20s. The first robber was about 5 feet 10 inches, black, thin, wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt and jeans. The second was about 5 feet 11 inches, black, thin, with a goatee and short-cropped hair. He also wore a dark hooded sweatshirt and dark jeans.

CONCORD — Police are searching for a man who robbed a Bank of the West Wednesday morning.

The robbery occurred at 11:44 a.m. at the bank at 1969 Diamond Boulevard. The robber walked inside and directly to a teller, where he demanded and received cash, Concord police Lt. Keith Whitaker said. He then walked to another teller, repeated the demand and got more money.

He walked out of the bank and possibly got into a waiting white van, police said.

The man did not display a weapon and no one was hurt during the robbery.

The suspect is described as black man between 25 and 33 years old, with a medium build and short black hair. He was unshaven and had thick eyebrows. At the time of the robbery, he was wearing a black baseball cap, white shirt and dark pants.

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