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Customer Tackles Atlanta Bank Robber
POSTED: 5:41 pm EDT July 10, 2007
UPDATED: 5:35 am EDT July 11, 2007
ATLANTA -- Timothy Armstead came to the Washington Mutual Bank on Candler Road Tuesday afternoon to try and find out how someone stole $100 from his account. Then, someone tried to steal $2,000 from the bank. Armstead said there was too much stealing going on so he jumped into action.
“The guy said he was going to blow up the building. I really didn’t understand because I thought it was a joke,†said Armstead.
He soon found out it was no joking manner. Police said a man was in the process of robbing the bank.
Officials said the suspect brought a fire extinguisher in the bank and told a bank employee it was a bomb. Police said the man demanded $2,000 and said he wanted it in 50’s.
“He started giving a verbal countdown, I guess yelling inside the bank, ‘You got 5 minutes,’ said Michael Payne with the DeKalb County Police Department.
After the bank employee gave the suspect the money, he began to walk out and that’s when Armstead tackled the man.
“I just brought him down to the ground and told him not to move,†said Armstead.
Armstead, a former Marine, held the suspect down until police arrived. He said the man did not put up a fight, even when Armstead chastised him for making a bad decision.
“I just told him it was a very stupid decision and now you get to spend 20 years of your life just for taking some money,†said Armstead.
The fire extinguisher wasn’t a bomb, but officers weren’t taking any precautions and had fire trucks in the area.
Officers had no explanation for why the suspect only wanted $2,000.
POSTED: 5:41 pm EDT July 10, 2007
UPDATED: 5:35 am EDT July 11, 2007
ATLANTA -- Timothy Armstead came to the Washington Mutual Bank on Candler Road Tuesday afternoon to try and find out how someone stole $100 from his account. Then, someone tried to steal $2,000 from the bank. Armstead said there was too much stealing going on so he jumped into action.
“The guy said he was going to blow up the building. I really didn’t understand because I thought it was a joke,†said Armstead.
He soon found out it was no joking manner. Police said a man was in the process of robbing the bank.
Officials said the suspect brought a fire extinguisher in the bank and told a bank employee it was a bomb. Police said the man demanded $2,000 and said he wanted it in 50’s.
“He started giving a verbal countdown, I guess yelling inside the bank, ‘You got 5 minutes,’ said Michael Payne with the DeKalb County Police Department.
After the bank employee gave the suspect the money, he began to walk out and that’s when Armstead tackled the man.
“I just brought him down to the ground and told him not to move,†said Armstead.
Armstead, a former Marine, held the suspect down until police arrived. He said the man did not put up a fight, even when Armstead chastised him for making a bad decision.
“I just told him it was a very stupid decision and now you get to spend 20 years of your life just for taking some money,†said Armstead.
The fire extinguisher wasn’t a bomb, but officers weren’t taking any precautions and had fire trucks in the area.
Officers had no explanation for why the suspect only wanted $2,000.
