Authorities believe bank heists linked

Kim Smith

Wednesday, July 28, 1999 | 12:48 p.m.

FBI agents believe Tuesday morning's bank robbery at the Galleria Mall may be connected to the December robbery of a Colonial Bank in Las Vegas.

"Almost everything was the same, the only difference was a mask," FBI Special Agent Kevin Caudle said. "This time one was used."

According to the FBI, the Bank of America manager was forced to open the doors of the bank at about 7:15 a.m. Tuesday by a lone man wearing a ski mask.

The man held the manager hostage and when a second bank employee arrived about an hour later, he forced them to open the bank vault.

Vaults sometimes require more than one person with a combination to open, Caudle said.

The employees and a third person, who was at the bank to teach a class, were handcuffed at the wrists with black-painted handcuffs and at the ankles with plastic handcuffs, Caudle said.

The suspect, who used a palm-sized two-way radio throughout the robbery, stuffed the money into a black duffle bag and left, leaving the women inside the vault, Caudle said. They were released when another bank employee arrived about 8:30 a.m.

Caudle said in each case, the bank robber used a tan or blue sport utility vehicle, was about the same height and weight and used a small two-way radio.

The first robbery was Dec. 21 at the Colonial Bank at 7451 W. Lake Mead Blvd.

Anyone with information about Tuesday's robbery is asked to call the FBI at 702-385-1281.