Two would-be credit union robbers are in custody this morning after quick work by Denver police and the credit union manager.
The manager of West Denver Community Credit Union arrived at work early this morning, according to a Denver police officer on the scene. She saw a man on a nearby bus bench and thought nothing of it.
She was entering the credit union at 3299 W. Alameda Ave., just before 7 a.m., punching in an access code when a man with a gun approached her, saying he intended to rob the credit union.
The manger resisted, telling the man he still had a chance to leave, a police officer at the scene said.
Police said the armed robber threatened the manager: “I’m going to have to shoot you!” he said.
The manager fled toward the bus bench, hoping to get help from the man who was there, but he pulled a gun on her as well.
The man waiting for the bus was an accomplice, police said.
But unbeknownst to the robbers, when the manager’s first code had been interrupted, a distress call was automatically sent. And when she was forced at gunpoint to enter a code, she used a distress code.
Meanwhile passersby on busy West Alameda Avenue noticed the robbery unfolding and several people called 911, said Lt. Matt Murray, a Denver Police Department spokesman.
The manager and one of the robbers entered the credit union while the accomplice waited outside to stand lookout, police said.
While the robber inside was rounding up cash at gunpoint he got a cellphone call, from the lookout, telling him police, with sirens blaring, were closing in.
The robber inside began screaming at the manager and became very agitated, at which point dye packs exploded, police said.
Officers surrounded the building, and both robbers were taken into custody.
The credit union manager was unharmed.
The robbers were not identified; police may release their names later today.
Donald Montoya, a 10-year circulation employee of the Denver Post, was on his way home from work when he heard the sounds of sirens and saw a police car screech to a halt, blocking the street near the credit union.
He said an officer jumped out of the car with his gun drawn. Within seconds, he said, dozens of officers with their guns drawn joined the first officer.
Some officers knelt down behind their car doors with guns drawn while others approached the bank with their guns pointed at the bank, said Montoya.
“It was something like off of TV,” said Montoya.
“All the cops came up and surrounded the bank,” said Montoya. “They were talking to each other, signaling and pointing.”
Moments later, the officers brought out two men with stocking caps on their heads.
He said the officers placed the men face down, handcuffed them and then pulled them to their feet.
Montoya said the suspects didn’t shout, talk or struggle.
“It was cool!” said Montoya, who admits to being a huge fan of the show “Cops.” “I was loving it. It was pretty cool.”
The cops “looked just like the guys on TV.”
After the robbers were in custody, some police officers rinsed off their faces with water after coming out of the building.
Chemicals from the dye packs, or perhaps mace set off during the response, irritated some officers and the robbers as well.
The robbers, hancuffed, were walked through the parking lot; the manager, safe in a patrol car, identified the two men from afar.
Two credit union employees waited outside the business, making cell phone calls and gathering information.
“We’re like a big family here — we know all of our customers by name,” said Jeanette, a 10-year employee who declined to give her last name.
The credit union has been robbed about seven times since Jeanette started working there, she said, including by a man who handed her a note saying he had a bomb.
Security has been beefed-up over the years, and customers can’t walk into the business until they are “buzzed-in” through a locked door, Jeanette said.
The two employees, both women, were glad their boss wasn’t hurt, they said.
Jeanette, speaking from experience, said: “It’s scary here when you open up by yourself.”
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
