A 7-car crash that sent a Clayton County police officer and others to a local hospital is connected to an armed robbery at an Atlanta Wells Fargo branch, a Clayton police spokeswoman said. But the three men involved in the robbery remain at large, and Wells Fargo is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to their arrests.
About 9:30 a.m. Friday, three masked men with handguns entered the Wells Fargo Bank in the 900 block of Virginia Avenue, FBI Special Agent Stephen Emmett said in an emailed statement.
“The robbers entered the bank and announced a robbery while shouting, ‘someone’s about to die, hurry up,’ ” Emmett said in the statement. “One of the robbers vaulted the teller counter while a second robber utilized a teller side door to go behind the teller counter. The third robber positioned himself by the entrance of the bank where he remained throughout the robbery.”
Suspect No. 1 is 5-foot-11 or 6-feet and between 250 and 300 pounds. He is between the ages of 28 and 35 years old. The second suspect is 5-foot-9 and between 150 and 175 pounds. Suspect No. 3 is 5-foot-8 and has a medium build. He and the second suspect are believed to be between the ages of 24 and 28 years old.
After obtaining an undisclosed amount of money, the men left the bank and got into a white Nissan Xterra, he said. While that vehicle has not been found, a “substantial amount of stolen bank money” and two weapons used in the robbery were recovered, Emmett said.
Authorities believe the trio jumped into two switch vehicles, a white Mercedes Benz police chased to an apartment complex in the 100 block of Mt. Zion Road and a Dodge Caravan officials have not located.
According to Channel 2 Action News, a money bag from the robbery was tracked to Clayton County.
“Our officer was en route to assist (Atlanta) police about that robbery/money bag call when the crash happened” about 10 a.m. at Hwy. 138 and Fielder Road, Clayton police spokeswoman JaQuitta Williams told Channel 2.
While there were no serious injuries, some people, including the officer, were taken to a local hospital. The number of people receiving treatment was not released. The Georgia State Patrol is investigating the cause of the Clayton crash.
Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to contact Crime Stoppers Atlanta at 404-577-8477 or by texting CSA and the tip to CRIMES (274637).