After the second strong-arm robbery in four days, Vancouver police advised bank customers Monday to take precautions with their bank deposit bags.
Police responded to an incident at about 11 a.m. Monday at the Bank of America at 1145 S.E. 164th Ave. Officers were told that the victim was in the bank lobby, preparing to make a deposit, when a man ran up, grabbed the bag and dashed out of the bank.
An earlier robbery occurred just outside U.S. Bank’s Cascade Park branch, 11621 S.E. Mill Plain Blvd., shortly after 1 p.m. Friday. The victim was at the drive-through window preparing to make a deposit. A young man wearing a red mask and a dark sweatshirt ran up to the driver’s car window and grabbed the deposit bag. The robber fled in a vehicle described as an older blue Subaru occupied by three young men.
Vancouver police investigators do not know if the crimes are related.
Police are urging bank customers to exercise additional precautions when making deposits using a bank deposit bag. Customers are encouraged to make deposits during bank hours at a teller station inside the bank, and to conceal the deposit bags until they are at the teller counter.
Anyone with information on the two recent robberies is asked to contact the Vancouver Police Department.
