Caught 2 bank robbers in the act today.

**Checkman** · 11-26-08, 02:58 PM

The call came in shortly after 9:00 A.M. Silent alarm and the security company was uanble to make contact with any employees in the bank. I was literally right there and responded. Shortly after I arrived dispatch made contact with an employee by phone who informed dispatch that there was a robbery in progress.

I pulled the Remington 870 out of it's rack and established the perimeter, all by myself. It took approximately seven minutes before for my backup arrived. That was fun.Because while seven minutes sounds like a brief time period it seems like forever when you're by yourself with an unknown number of armed suspects inside a bank. The bank is right next to our local Walmart and the parking lot was a zoo with civilians everywhere. So that was another worry of course.

Tactical nightmare.

Well anyway once officers began to arrive it was an avalanche. My department and the sheriff deparment responded in force. Since it was the morning of a workday we also had detectives, the chief and various other personnel responding. I did appreciate hearing the sirens in the distance though. That is a good sound.

Initially it looked like it was going to be a barricaded suspect situation, but after approximately thirty minutes (before we were able to establish communications) the two suspects walked out of the bank and surrendered - peacefully.

So long story short. Everything fell into place. We responded just like we train, the radio traffic was excellent, weapon control was good, there was no gunplay, the BG's gave up and there were no death or injuries.

Also I got a couple slaps on the back from my superiors and fellow officers. Let nobody tell you that dosen't feel good because it does. Also it was us, patrol, that took them into custody - not SWAT or any of the other cool units. Just patrol.

This occurred on my Friday, the day before Thanksgiving. What an excellent way to wrap up a work week and start a holiday weekend.

Just thought I would share my little war story. I'm just an average patrol officer. I'm not SWAT or any of the other really cool acronyms so this was an unusual event for me. Usually it's all about domestic batteries, vandalisms and suspicious calls.

**MacLean** · 11-26-08, 03:03 PM

Nice work!

**Jenna** · 11-26-08, 03:04 PM

Thanks for sharing the story! Now that is a Thanksgiving story with a happy ending! Great job catching those turkeys!

**sweetpea** · 11-26-08, 03:08 PM

WOW!!!!! what a great job. Glad everyone walked away unharmed. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and holiday weekend.

**irishmick** · 11-26-08, 03:36 PM

That's awesome, Checkman. Nice work!! You *should* feel good about the pat on the back!!!! It's always nice when things fall into place and you get to catch the dirtbags without anyone having to deploy the cool toys.

We will, however, have to re-teach you the calendar as Wednesday is before Thanksgiving, not Friday. hehehe

**2 Blue 4 U** · 11-26-08, 03:43 PM

Great Job! Glad all worked out and the perps did not do anything stupid!

**Captain America** · 11-26-08, 04:00 PM

Great job. Remember this, Checkman, the Patrol Officer is the backbone of any police department. There is no such thing as "just" a patrol officer. Patrol is pretty cool too.Without good and courageous patrol officers such as yourself the rest of the department don't matter.

**kjlaw** · 11-26-08, 04:12 PM

Outstanding work!!

**Pinki** · 11-26-08, 05:39 PM

YAY!

Good work and thank you for doing what you do!

**pgg** · 11-26-08, 06:02 PM

Good catch

**Checkman** · 11-26-08, 06:35 PM

Thank you all. We're all pretty pleased with how it all worked out. My department is 105 years old. Apparently this is the first bank robbery that we have arrived at while it was in progress. It isn't easy to arrive while a robbery is going down. In the past we've caught the suspects after they've left the scene and we've caught them days or weeks later, but not while the bank was actually being robbed.

Lots of thumbs up and high fiving. Apparently my wife has been calling people and I have been told to be prepared to tell everyone about it at the family Thanksgiving feast.

Once again thanks for your compliments.

**irishmick** · 11-26-08, 06:44 PM

Originally Posted by Checkman

Thank you all. We're all pretty pleased with how it all worked out. My department is 105 years old. Apparently this is the first bank robbery that we have arrived at while it was in progress. It isn't easy to arrive while a robbery is going down. In the past we've caught the suspects after they've left the scene and we've caught them days or weeks later, but not while the bank was actually being robbed.

Lots of thumbs up and high fiving. Apparently my wife has been calling people and I have been told to be prepared to tell everyone about it at the family Thanksgiving feast.

Once again thanks for your compliments.

I think your wife is right! That definitely warrants some brag time!

**Checkman** · 11-26-08, 08:08 PM

You Oregon guys will like this. Both suspects are from Corvallis.

**irishmick** · 11-26-08, 08:10 PM

Originally Posted by Checkman

You Oregon guys will like this. Both suspects are from Corvallis.

Sweet. College dopers? Or just general Corvallis idiots?

**countybear** · 11-26-08, 08:19 PM

Sometimes you just win, and that makes it all worthwhile.

Great job.

**Pudge** · 11-26-08, 08:54 PM

Awesome job, Checkman.

That's a once in a lifetime pinch!

**Checkman** · 11-26-08, 09:06 PM

Originally Posted by irishmick

Sweet. College dopers? Or just general Corvallis idiots?

I think they were just a couple local idiots.

**Jks9199** · 11-26-08, 09:54 PM

Originally Posted by Checkman

Thank you all. We're all pretty pleased with how it all worked out. My department is 105 years old. Apparently this is the first bank robbery that we have arrived at while it was in progress. It isn't easy to arrive while a robbery is going down. In the past we've caught the suspects after they've left the scene and we've caught them days or weeks later, but not while the bank was actually being robbed.

Lots of thumbs up and high fiving. Apparently my wife has been calling people and I have been told to be prepared to tell everyone about it at the family Thanksgiving feast.

Once again thanks for your compliments.

Fantastic job!

As others have said -- without Patrol, none of us in specialties would be able to do anything. There's a reason that most specialties fall under Support divisions.

You did exactly what you're supposed to, and did it in the right way. Best of all -- the bad guys were caught, and NOBODY got hurt.