Armored Car Guard Robbed While Emptying ATM

[UtahProtectionForce Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close UtahProtectionForce]

PHOENIX -- A pair of armed robbers used a chemical spray to disable an armored car guard as she emptied an automated teller machine in west Phoenix on Tuesday, Phoenix police said.

Police said three guards in a Loomis armored van arrived at the Bank of America near 77th Avenue and Thomas Road around 9:30 a.m. to service the ATMs. One guard, 23-year-old Kelly King, got out of the van; the other two stayed inside.

Police said two men dressed in black, wearing black ski masks, parked their white sedan in the adjacent lane as King was emptying one of the drive-through ATMs.

One of the men had a gun; the other forced King to the ground and sprayed her with a mace-like chemical agent to disable her, according to police.

Police said the other two Loomis guards, 46-year-old Kathy Gates and 23-year-old Adam Lopez, remained in the armored van as the robbers grabbed King's bag and fled. Police did not say what was in the bag.

Police said none of the guards were injured.

Around 10:15 a.m., police said, a security guard at Lowe's near 75th Avenue and McDowell Road saw a white sedan with two men inside drive through the store's parking lot. One of the men threw a bag out the window and the car drove off.

When the security guard saw the Loomis logo on the bag, police said, he notified two officers who happened to be nearby.

Police said they found rubber bands in the bag.

Police were unable to locate the robbers but said witnesses at the bank might provide helpful information. Anyone with information is asked to call Phoenix police at 602-262-6141 or Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS.

Investigators said they have not linked Tuesday's robbery to any others.

http://www.kpho.com/news/14824357/detail.html

[bpdblue Member Find all posts View Profile Close bpdblue]

What were two other guards doing during this crime.

If they can't explain why they didn't help, I think I know what they WILL be doing now, and that's finding a new job.

[msofin Member Find all posts View Profile Close msofin]

What were two other guards doing during this crime.

If they can't explain why they didn't help, I think I know what they WILL be doing now, and that's finding a new job.

I've seen many ATM pickups by armored cars. It always has annoyed me that only one armed officer retrieves the cash by him/her self. You can't open a safe and watch your own back at the same time. I even hated it more when I've been on 'ATM duty' at a mall I've worked at when they would come around to pick up/re stock the ATM. Why? I wasn't allowed to carry my firearm at the site and I was watching the officers back more closely than any of his co-workers(!) who were 'hiding' in the truck.

Personally I've not been very impressed by Loomis or ADT.

[SecTrainer Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close SecTrainer]

If there had only been one officer inside the truck, I could understand it because the attack on the officer outside the truck might just be a ruse to get into the truck itself. What I can't understand is TWO officers sitting inside the truck and doing nothing unless it just happened so fast they couldn't react. Still, the minute you see black ski masks, it seems to me that you might just entertain some faint suspicions...

[N. A. Corbier Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close N. A. Corbier]

Lets do some math, and we'll see why the guys stay in the truck.

1. The truck is worth several million in itself.
2. The truck (can) be full of up to several million in coin or cash.
3. The guards in the truck are there to prevent the taking of the money and the truck.
4. The guard in the back is there to load stuff into the truck.

I have a feeling that its actually policy that the two in the truck not aid the jumper. To be honest, I have a feeling that to their risk management VP, the truck and its contents is worth more than all three guards, even if there were settlements or a civil negligence trial.

Even if the jumper is being brutally murdered, I have a feeling those two are to keep their ass in the truck and repel any assault against it, possibly by driving away.