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Two men armed with semi-automatic pistols robbed an armored truck employee Thursday outside a bank in Takoma Park, according to police, who are looking for the public's help in identifying the suspects.
An employee of a Brink's armored truck had made a delivery to the Citibank in the 7600 block of New Hampshire Avenue before 12:45 p.m. and returned to the armored truck to get another bag. He was returning to the bank with the bag when two armed men approached and demanded the bag, according to a news release from Takoma Park Police.
One man tried to disarm the armored truck employee, then took the bag and fled on foot. The other held the employee at gunpoint before fleeing on foot. Both fled east on the south side of the bank toward the rear alley of the businesses in the 7600 block of New Hampshire Avenue. They were last seen running near 7609 New Hampshire Ave. toward 7600 New Hampshire Ave.
Investigators do not have video or other surveillance footage of the robbers, but are carefully following up on leads, according to FBI spokesman Richard J. Wolf.
"They got away on foot, but we believe there may have been a vehicle somewhere based on some interviews we got on the scene," Wolf said. "Obviously, when it's a violent type of armored car robbery … it certainly lends a whole other realm of violence to these things and we're investigating it very carefully."
Police searched the area and found the bag discarded near the 1300 block of University Boulevard.
The robbers were black. One was 5 feet 7 inches tall and was wearing a black hat, white shirt and beige pants. The other was about 6 feet tall, weighed 160 pounds and wore a white shirt, black pants and black mask.
There were no injuries during the robbery, Wolf said.
Wolf declined to comment on whether the robbery was related to a series of recent robberies of armored trucks in the area, including an attempted armed robbery of an armored truck employee May 19 at a SunTrust bank branch in the 1700 Elton Road in Silver Spring, and the April 29 robbery of a Dunbar Armored truck making a delivery to the Chevy Chase Bank at 11261 New Hampshire Ave. in White Oak.
Takoma Park Police are the lead investigators with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigations. Witnesses or anyone else with information are asked to call Takoma Park Police at 301-270-1100.