A credit union manager fleeing an early-morning robber ran for help only to find that her would-be savior was the robber’s accomplice.
Just before 7 a.m., the manager of West Denver Community Credit Union, 3299 W. Alameda Ave., was punching in an access code to open the door when a man with a gun told her he was going to rob the office.
She resisted and gave the man a chance to run. He refused, threatening instead, “I’m going to have to shoot you!”
Remembering seeing a man on a nearby bus bench as she arrived at work, the manager ran toward him for help. He pulled a gun on her too, according to a Denver officer.
But the manager’s actions created enough of a commotion that bystanders became suspicious and called 911. An alert was also sent silently from the bank because the manager had stopped before completing entry of her pass code.
As the robbers led the manager back to the credit union, police were on the way.
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 that police, with sirens blaring, were closing in.
Officers surrounded the building, and two men were taken into custody. The credit union manager was unharmed.
Police identified the men arrested as Paris Peterson, 25, and Markieth Chandler, 27.
Donald Montoya, a 10-year circulation employee of The Denver Post, was on his way home from work when he heard 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 behind their car doors with guns drawn while others approached the bank with their guns pointed in its direction, Montoya said.
“It was something like off of TV,” he said.
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.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
