Robber wearing old man mask escapes after stealing bag of money from Paso bank, police say
Paso Robles police are searching for a masked man who robbed Pacific Premier Bank on Monday afternoon.
The robbery happened at about 1:07 p.m. at the bank in the 500 block of 12th Street, according to a Paso Robles Police Department news release.
At that time, a bank employee from Pacific Premier Bank reported a person had just entered the bank wearing a blue long-sleeved shirt, blue jeans, gloves, a fedora-style hat with a skull on the side and a mask that resembled an elderly man, according to the release.
The man approached a bank teller, “brandished a revolver handgun and demanded money,” police said. The teller gave the man an undisclosed amount of money, and he left the bank holding it in a small bag.
The bank employee who had originally contacted police was still on the telephone with police dispatch as the man left the bank and yelled at the suspect, according to the release.
Karen Jones was waiting to give blood at the Vitalant blood drive in the parking lot when she saw a man wearing a mask come out of the bank.
Jones said she thought the man was wearing makeup at first, but her husband, Dan Jones, said it was a mask.
“It looked like something out of a movie,” Dan Jones said. “He had a mask on and the whole nine yards.”
Karen Jones said she saw what appeared to be two bank employees follow the man to see which way he was going, and the man took off running between a couple of buildings.
Police said the suspect started to run northbound through the alley toward 13th Street.
Paso Police Police patrol units arrived in the area within a minute of the initial call and started searching for the suspect, the release said. CHP Air Operations was called to assist with overhead surveillance of the area, according to the release.
Paso Robles police detectives have reached out to the Santa Maria branch of the FBI for further assistance, the release said.
As this investigation is ongoing, the Paso Robles Police Department is requesting anyone with information regarding this incident to call the Paso Robles Police Department at 805-237-6464.
This story was originally published September 23, 2019 at 2:10 PM.
