Police seek pair involved in 4 South Bay ATM robberies
CAMPBELL, Calif. (KTVU) - Police need help identifying two suspects who they say robbed customers at random at four different ATMs all over the South Bay. At the Chase Bank in Campbell, police said they pulled out a handgun.
Police said there's no rhyme or reason on who they targeted. At this bank, the suspects cased it for some time. Police are now cautioning everyone to be on the lookout and on alert.
Surveillance cameras capture pretty clear images of two robbers unfamiliar to authorities but known to someone. The duo is responsible for a robbery spree at ATMs in the South Bay.
“I think it's rare,” said Capt. Joe Cefalu of Campbell Police. “We don’t usually have that many armed robberies in Campbell and it is pretty brazen to do it at that time in the morning in broad daylight.”
Police first learned of the pair after they robbed an unsuspecting bank customer at a Chase Bank in Campbell at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 8.
“A female was approaching the ATM and she was met by a male and female,” said Capt. Cefalu. “They grabbed her and one of them said they had a gun and she saw they had a firearm.”
It turns out there were three similar robberies all on the same day. Besides the Chase Bank in Campbell, Bank of Americas in Santa Clara and San Jose as well as a Wells Fargo in Sunnyvale were also hit.
In all cases, the suspects demanded money from customers taking off with undisclosed amount of cash.
“Oh my gosh that's scary,” said Maren Lassner of South San Jose. “That makes me feel really unsettled and uncomfortable and unsafe coming to do banking which is such a normal everyday activity.”
The Chase Bank sits on a busy intersection at Winchester and Hamilton with a lot of traffic and visibility.
“Very much surprised they would pull a gun on somebody,” said Sarah Cabana of San Jose.
“It’s a little worrisome,” said Bob Allen of Campbell. “I don’t like the thought there's an increased crime at ATMs. I go to these ATMs.”
At least one bank customer we spoke to is now re-considering ever using an ATM and doing online banking from home from now on.
“I don't want to have to change my life to suit my life to people who want to do bad things to good people but unfortunately that's the area and time we live in so definitely have to make adjustments,” said Lassner.
Police describe the suspect's car as a dark gray newer model Nissan Sentra with a spare tire on the driver's side of the car. In light of these robberies, police are now cautioning ATM customers to be mindful of their surroundings and if you see anything suspicious to call 911.