04-27-2007, 09:13 PM
PBSO deputies kill bank robbery suspect, wound another near Boynton
By Jerome Burdi & Stephanie Horvath
Sun-Sentinel.com
April 27, 2007, 2:27 PM EDT
WEST BOYNTON --Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office deputies shot and killed one bank robber and wounded another Friday morning after a Washington Mutual branch was held up and the robbers led police on a chase from U.S. 441 west of Lake Worth to Jog Road west of Boynton Beach.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said the two suspects may be the same men who have robbed numerous bank robberies in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
"This was their livelihood -- robbing banks. And now it is over with," the sheriff said.
The bank branch, in the Woods Walk Plaza at 9863 Lake Worth Road, was robbed around 10:15 a.m. when the two men entered the bank armed with assault rifles, similar to AK-47s, said sheriff's Sgt. Lawrence Poston. He said they went "straight for the vault."
The bandits pushed the six or seven bank employees and one customer onto the vault's floor, then took all the money they could carry. No one was reported injured.
The fled in a blue Dodge truck, stolen from Broward County, but didn't go far. They drove behind the Woods Walk Plaza, and switched to a silver Hyundai Elantra.
Deputies had been alerted over the police radio about the robbery and began following the suspect car after the driver was spotted driving erratically. The chase ended at Jog Road and Le Chalet Boule when the Hyundai driver made a sudden U-turn and crashed into a fire hydrant. The two men fled on foot. A foot chase followed.
PBSO, in an e-mailed release said, "deputies returned gunfire" around 10:30 a.m.
Deputies killed one man in front of the Summerville Senior Assisted Living facility and wounded the second. It was not immediately known how many shots were fired.
The injured suspect was taken to Delray Medical Center in serious condition.
Neither of the robbery suspects were immediately identified.
The weapons and the money were recovered, Bradshaw said.
The nearby Christa McAuliffe Middle School, at 6500 LeChalet Blvd., was in a lockdown from 10:15 a.m. to 10:45 a.m., said school district spokesman Nat Harrington. No injuries were reported.
Washington Mutual has not determined whether it will reopen the bank branch later today.
"We're making sure our employees are feeling good and receiving appropriate help through our trauma consultants on site," said spokeswoman Nova Barnett.
The bank plans to be open for normal business hours on Saturday, she said.
The investigation continues.
Staff Writer Erika Pesantes contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2007, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
By Jerome Burdi & Stephanie Horvath
Sun-Sentinel.com
April 27, 2007, 2:27 PM EDT
WEST BOYNTON --Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office deputies shot and killed one bank robber and wounded another Friday morning after a Washington Mutual branch was held up and the robbers led police on a chase from U.S. 441 west of Lake Worth to Jog Road west of Boynton Beach.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said the two suspects may be the same men who have robbed numerous bank robberies in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
"This was their livelihood -- robbing banks. And now it is over with," the sheriff said.
The bank branch, in the Woods Walk Plaza at 9863 Lake Worth Road, was robbed around 10:15 a.m. when the two men entered the bank armed with assault rifles, similar to AK-47s, said sheriff's Sgt. Lawrence Poston. He said they went "straight for the vault."
The bandits pushed the six or seven bank employees and one customer onto the vault's floor, then took all the money they could carry. No one was reported injured.
The fled in a blue Dodge truck, stolen from Broward County, but didn't go far. They drove behind the Woods Walk Plaza, and switched to a silver Hyundai Elantra.
Deputies had been alerted over the police radio about the robbery and began following the suspect car after the driver was spotted driving erratically. The chase ended at Jog Road and Le Chalet Boule when the Hyundai driver made a sudden U-turn and crashed into a fire hydrant. The two men fled on foot. A foot chase followed.
PBSO, in an e-mailed release said, "deputies returned gunfire" around 10:30 a.m.
Deputies killed one man in front of the Summerville Senior Assisted Living facility and wounded the second. It was not immediately known how many shots were fired.
The injured suspect was taken to Delray Medical Center in serious condition.
Neither of the robbery suspects were immediately identified.
The weapons and the money were recovered, Bradshaw said.
The nearby Christa McAuliffe Middle School, at 6500 LeChalet Blvd., was in a lockdown from 10:15 a.m. to 10:45 a.m., said school district spokesman Nat Harrington. No injuries were reported.
Washington Mutual has not determined whether it will reopen the bank branch later today.
"We're making sure our employees are feeling good and receiving appropriate help through our trauma consultants on site," said spokeswoman Nova Barnett.
The bank plans to be open for normal business hours on Saturday, she said.
The investigation continues.
Staff Writer Erika Pesantes contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2007, South Florida Sun-Sentinel