PALISADE, Colo.—A would-be robber surprised a police officer inside a western Colorado bank and took his gun, but the suspect accidentally locked himself out and fled with no money, authorities said Monday.
Nobody was hurt in the Saturday morning incident.
The suspect hasn’t been captured and the officer’s gun hasn’t been found, Palisade Police Chief Carroll Quarles said.
The suspect was already in the bank when the officer went there Saturday morning to investigate an alarm. The suspect ordered the bank president to let the officer in, authorities said.
When the officer was inside, the suspect put a gun to his head, ordered him to the floor and took the officer’s gun, Quarles said.
When he got the chance, the officer ran from the bank and radioed for help. The suspect chased the officer outside and the door locked behind him, so he fled in a stolen vehicle, Quarles said.
Quarles said he wouldn’t release the officer’s name, citing the officer’s embarrassment over losing his gun.
The chief said the incident is under investigation. He said the officer shouldn’t have entered the bank alone, but once he was there, he reacted well.
Quarles said the suspect was communicating with at least one person by radio or walkie-talkie, but investigators don’t know whether others were also involved.
