Rash of ‘aggressive' bank robbers hit metro Atlanta

A man wearing a porcelain doll mask robs an Atlanta bank. Then, a duo known for wearing wigs in prior heists hits a bank in Gwinnett, sending a teller to the hospital. And, now, on Thursday, two banks robbed in one day, with shots fired after one of them.

In all cases, the bank robbers plaguing metro Atlanta this week were armed, or at least pretended to be so.

"There's not only been a rash of bank robberies," FBI special agent Stephen Emmett told the AJC Thursday. "But they're armed bank robberies with very aggressive robbers."

In a robbery of a Chase Bank at 3330 Piedmont Rd. in Atlanta Tuesday, video footage shows just how dangerous the situation was. The robber's index finger was near the trigger of his semi automatic handgun as he jumped over the teller counter, Emmett said. "And of course the tellers were right on the other side of the muzzle."

In a robbery of a Wachovia Bank at 3520 Centerville Highway in Gwinnett County Wednesday, an armed duo "roughed up" a female teller, Emmett said. She wasn't seriously injured, but she was sent to a hospital for observation, he said. Another man fell out of his wheelchair but wasn't seriously injured.

On Thursday, a man who robbed a SunTrust Bank at 3020 Peachtree Rd. in Buckhead around 10:30 a.m. Thursday tried to force his way into a cab afterward, waving a pistol at the driver. The cab driver pulled his own gun and shot at the man, who then took off on foot. He didn't get far.

Witnesses pointed him out as he trotted down Peachtree Road, and an Atlanta motorcycle cop -- Officer Lionel H. Rosser -- nabbed him right in the middle of the street, Sgt. Tommie Collins of the Atlanta Police Department told the AJC.

It turns out the man had arrived at the bank using the same cab driver who later shot at him. The man, who was uninjured, was using what turned out to be a fake handgun, Atlanta officer Kim Jones said. He tossed it during his ill-planned flight on foot, Collins said in an interview. "I think he may have been unfamiliar with the area and didn't know where to run."

Two men who robbed another SunTrust Bank six miles away in Cobb County an hour earlier were still on the loose Thursday afternoon. They had a getaway car, and were toting at least one gun.

Both of the suspects were described as being in their mid-20s. One was described as a black man with a medium build, a bald head and a mustache. There was little information about the other. They brandished a handgun, grabbed cash and fled the bank, at 4338 Paces Ferry Rd., in what looked like a black Nissan Altima, according to the FBI.

Metro Atlanta has, in the past, experienced a relatively high number of bank robberies, in one year rivaling Los Angeles. It's unclear whether the current rash of robberies constitutes a record, but authorities nonetheless find it notable.

"We don't often have two in one week," Collins said. He said the bank robbers who have been arrested recently have been complaining about the economy and unemployment.

"They all seem to be going through hard times," Collins said in an interview. He said the man arrested Thursday, an as yet unidentified man in his 30s, claimed to be homeless. Collins also told reporters at a news conference that evidence suggested the man was a novice bank robber.

When there are this many robberies, it can be difficult to keep them all straight. That confusion is one reason the FBI comes up with nicknames for suspects.

The man who hit the Chase Bank Tuesday, for instance, was wearing a mask and was quickly dubbed the "porcelain doll mask" robber. Unfortunately for him, an ATM camera caught two clear pictures of his face before he donned the mask. Those pictures inspired a tip that led to the arrest in DeKalb County near Decatur Thursday morning of Abdul Khaliq Amin, 52.

The two men who robbed the Wachovia in Gwinnett Wednesday fled in a stolen Dodge Magnum that was recovered nearby. They weren't wearing wigs at the time, but the FBI said they are probably the same men responsible for at least six other heists around the metro Atlanta area with fake hairdos.

The two men are known to sport straggly, black, shoulder-length wigs during robberies, so of course they earned the nickname "wig bandits," said Emmett, the FBI agent. "Naming some of these bandits helps us keep track of them, as cheesy as it may sound."