Three banks have been robbed in the past two weeks by someone claiming to have a bomb, the latest on Thursday in west Denver.
In all three incidents, the “bombs” were hoaxes, police said.
The latest robbery was at World Savings Bank on South Sheridan Boulevard at West Evans Avenue. A man told the teller he had a bomb, then placed a suspicious package on the counter. The teller handed him a green bank bag with money in it, and the man left on a bicycle heading north on Sheridan.
Police immediately locked down three nearby schools. The suspect was still at large Thursday evening.
Denver police called in the bomb squad. Detective Joe Tennant, the department’s bomb technician, donned an 85- pound Kevlar body-armor suit and entered the bank alone to determine what was in the package on the counter.
“First we X-ray it to see what’s in the package and to determine what kind of ‘shot’ to give it,” he said after the incident. “We use a water disrupter, which gives the package a powerful shot of water to destroy the package.
“Then we look at what’s left to determine if there is a bomb or something explosive. This one was a hoax.”
Police identified the suspect as a man in his mid-40s to 50 years old, 5 feet 2 inches to 5 feet 4 inches tall, 110 pounds, with gray stubble on his face. He was wearing white latex gloves, a tan khaki jacket and a black baseball cap with “EAS” printed on the front. He escaped on a black or dark blue road bike.
Last week, a man entered Key Bank near First Avenue and Broadway and told the teller the package he was carrying was a bomb. Police destroyed it and said it also was a hoax.
The same method was used by a robber two weeks ago at the U.S. Alliance Credit Union at 1499 Wynkoop St. in Lower Downtown. That, too, was a hoax.
Police said descriptions of the three robbers don’t match well enough to say it was the same man, even though the methods were the same.
Staff writer Mike McPhee can be reached at 303-820-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com.