Berkeley Bank Robber Loses Cash To The Wind, Bystanders Give It Back
BERKELEY (CBS SF) -- Police in Berkeley are asking for help identifying a man who robbed a Wells Fargo bank on University Avenue at gunpoint last month, police said Thursday.
Police released surveillance video of the robbery Thursday in the hopes that someone recognizes the man. He walked into the bank at 1:50 p.m. on Dec. 15 and handed a clerk a note demanding the contents of her drawer, police said.
He then walked through the bank lobby pointing a silver revolver at bank employees and patrons, according to police.
"Even if his intention wasn't to shoot someone, you carry a pistol like that, you never know. You could get startled, get mad and accidentally discharge the weapon at someone -- it's very dangerous," Berkeley police Sgt. Frank Landrum told KPIX.
When the suspect left, he apparently escaped without a getaway car.
It was stormy that day, with heavy rain and strong winds, so, when the robber came out of the bank, the wind blew his cash all over the sidewalk. People stopped to pick it up and give it back to him, not realizing he had just robbed the bank.
Police described the suspect as a black man between 40 and 60 years old with a slim to medium build, standing 5 feet 9 inches to 6 feet tall with a gray and black beard.
He was wearing a leather jacket over a hooded sweatshirt during the robbery.
Wells Fargo has offered a reward of up to $5,000 for the arrest and conviction of the robber. Anyone with information about the suspect has been asked to call Berkeley police robbery investigators at (510) 981-4793.
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