Bank robber locks employees in vault

By Larry Hartstein

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Authorities are searching for the man who robbed a Hiram bank at gunpoint and locked employees in the vault Thursday morning.

Paulding County Sheriff's Office A security camera photo of man who robbed Hiram branch of RBC bank on Thursday.

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The suspect entered RBC Bank at 1430 Pace Road about 9:30 a.m. He displayed a large silver handgun and ordered employees on the ground. He had some of them empty tills and place cash into clear trash bags, then he locked the employees in the vault, Hiram police said.

The suspect is described as a 6-foot black man, 230 to 240 pounds, wearing jeans, a purple shirt, and a white ball cap. He wore sunglasses and a dark bandana over his face from the nose down. The Paulding County Sheriff's Office released several surveillance photos of the suspect.

On Tuesday morning, two men who robbed the Bank of North Georgia in Hiram were arrested thanks to a GPS tracking device tucked into the cash, authorities said. They were arrested at an Atlanta townhouse complex once the vehicle with the money stopped there, authorities said.

Anyone with information on Thursday's robbery should call Hiram police at 770-943-3087.