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8:15 a.m. • 2-12-12

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Police: Armored Truck Robbery Was 'Definitely Planned'


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Armored Car Robbery in Durham
Armored Car Robbery in Durham

A robbery involving an armored truck outside a Durham bank late Tuesday morning did not appear to be a random act, investigators said.

"I would say this was definitely planned," Durham police Maj. Lee Russ said. "I don't think it was a crime of opportunity."

The robbery unfolded shortly before noon outside the Bank of America on Hope Valley Road in the Woodcroft area, police said.

A security guard for Dunbar Armored was walking out of the bank with an undisclosed amount of money when a man came out of a car parked between the bank and the armored truck and started shooting.

"It was an ambush," Russ said. "It happened extremely quickly."

A bullet hit the armored truck. A stray bullet hit a car driving by.

No one was shot, but one of the security guards with the armored truck injured his hand, police said. He was treated at the scene.

In an attempt to find cover, he fell down, got up and ran off but left the money on the ground. The assailant grabbed it. Police said the guards did not return fire.

The assailants fled from the scene with an undisclosed amount of money, authorities said. They were last seen wearing either dark blue or black clothing, and one or both were wearing masks at the time, according to initial reports from Durham Police dispatch.

They were last seen traveling northbound on Hope Valley Road in an older gray Ford Taurus. They are considered armed and dangerous, authorities said.

RELATED TOPICS: Durham

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What a plan!

This amazes me. Robbing a bank or an armored truck is almost impossible by design. Getting away with it is even more rare. I suspect an inside job since the armored trucks are supposedly on a random route known only to the bank and the truck company.

JUSTACCEPTIT~1crazygirl - it's possible they DO have jobs but not making enough mulah. Not all jobs are 8-5. What does having an 8-5 job have to do with anything. They could work 2nd or 3rd shift. My point is IF they had a JOB then they probably would not be out robbing people. I believe most of the people in the world dont make enough "Mulah", but they arent all out robbing and shooting at people.

With regards to returning fire : I wouldn't have returned fire to save the money, I would have returned fire to save my life! If I'm armed and someone is shooting at me, I'm going to start shooting back.

For people who say that returning fire endangers bystanders : so does allowing the criminal to keep firing his own gun. The sooner the criminal is shot, the safer it is for all parties invovled.

I agree that it sounds like an inside job : had the guard actually been shot, I wouldn't think so, but it seems awfully convenient to be shot at (and missed), drop the bag, and then run away.

Seems to me the guards used good sense in not returning fire. Do we really want a shootout outside a bank with innocent bystanders getting shot? Money is never worth te risk of killing someone or getting killed.

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