Group of thieves rob Carlsbad bank

By City News Service

A group of thieves in hooded sweat shirts and gloves stormed into a North County bank Tuesday afternoon, hurtled over the service counter and emptied cash drawers before making a two-stage getaway in a pair of vehicles.

The robbery at the Bank of America branch in the 7700 block of El Camino Real in Carlsbad was reported just after 1 p.m., police Lt. Kelly Cain said.

After looting the office’s teller stations, the robbers — either three or four of them, one possibly armed with a screwdriver or small metal bar — ran out of the bank and drove off in a burgundy-colored Chevrolet Tahoe.

A short distance away, while still in the bank’s parking lot, they pulled over, jumped into a waiting white van and sped out of the area.

Officers impounded the abandoned sport utility vehicle, which may have been stolen prior to the heist, and were processing it for evidence that could help identify the thieves.