Castle Rock – A robber stole money from the Castle Rock Bank shortly before noon Saturday, leaving behind railroad flares wrapped to look like dynamite.
The robbery became the buzz of the normally quiet town after a two-block area surrounding the bank was shut down and evacuated.
“I’ve lost out on about $240 because of this guy,” said Joshua Bertrand, who gives guitar lessons at Castle Rock Music. The business was evacuated for nearly three hours after the robbery.
The teacher and a juvenile said they saw a man who was wearing camouflage and driving a beat-up red car cruising the area near the bank shortly after the robbery.
Police said a man entered the bank before it closed at noon.
He waited in line, then placed a black briefcase on a counter. He took out sticks that appeared to be dynamite and told the teller he would blow up the bank if he wasn’t given money.
The robber fled the bank on foot and as of late Saturday had not been found.
Nine people were in the bank during the robbery, including employees and customers who were taken to the Castle Rock Police Department afterward for questioning by police and agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, police said.
No one was injured, said Castle Rock Police Chief Tony Lane.
The man was described as a cleanshaven white male who is possibly in his 40s. He wore tan camouflage clothing.
Serious crimes are uncommon for the town of nearly 39,000 located off Interstate 25 in Douglas County.
“We usually have farmers markets on Saturday,” Lane said. “Bank robberies are rare.”
Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call Castle Rock police at 303-663-6126.
Staff writer Annette Espinoza can be reached at 303-820-1655 or aespinoza@denverpost.com.
