'Bomb' Strapped to Manager in LA Bank Robbery

She was ordered to rob bank or device would be detonated: cops
By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 5, 2012 11:27 PM CDT
Updated Sep 6, 2012 12:03 AM CDT
'Bomb' Strapped to Manager in LA Bank Robbery
Los Angeles Police bomb squad members check for explosive devices outside a Bank of America branch in Los Angeles yesterday.   (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Two masked men kidnapped a Bank of America manager, strapped what they said was a bomb to her, and threatened to detonate it if she didn't rob her bank for them yesterday. She was driven to the bank after her kidnapping the previous night, and "was ordered to
take out all the money. She did do that in fear for her life," says a spokesman for the LA County Sheriff's Department. But she also told co-workers what had happened, then flung the money out the door to her kidnappers, who fled in a waiting car, say police. As of late last night, they were still on the loose.

The police bomb squad managed to remove the device from the woman, and it was destroyed by a robot, reports KABC-TV. "A device left on the bank employee was rendered safe by a sheriff's bomb squad, and further investigation is ongoing, including a search for suspects," reads a statement from the FBI's LA office. Police did not reveal any details about the device strapped to the bank manager. (More crime stories.)

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