MIAMI (Reuters) – Criminals abducted a bank teller from his home, strapped explosives onto him and forced him to rob a Miami bank where he works, authorities said yesterday.
The three suspects, their faces covered, fled in a car with an undisclosed amount of money, Coral Gables Police Chief Richard Naue said. The teller was unharmed.
The incident prompted police, FBI and a SWAT team to seal off the area in suburban Miami around the bank, a branch of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, for hours.
Police and FBI officers stood with their guns drawn as the teller walked out shirtless in what authorities initially believed was a hostage-taking incident at the bank.
“We were able to secure the building, secure the safety of the individual and deactivate the device,” Naue said.
Officials did not say what kind of explosives were strapped onto the teller, who was sent inside the bank by his abductors and told the device could be detonated remotely.