CANTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. – One man is behind bars and dozens of other people are shaken up after an attempted bank robbery in Canton Township is foiled by police.
Customers and employees were inside when the robbery was taking place.
Canton Township police wasted little time getting there when they heard a bank robbery was in progress. For a few customers inside during that period, it will be something they’ll never forget.
“It was pretty tense. It was pretty scary when we kind of realized what was going on,” said one man, who wished to remain anonymous. He and his wife were at the bank to open a new account.
Police said it was around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday when a man walked into the Chase Bank on Ford Road, demanding money.
“My wife noticed that there was a letter left at the front desk,” the man said.
As soon as the suspected robber stepped outside the door, that’s when the first of many patrol cars made it to the scene. The suspect then ran back inside, telling all the employees to leave.
Unaware of what was going on, the man and his wife stayed in the middle of the lobby as the entire situation unfolded.
“He was very calm. He was very polite,” the man said. “All the employees left and then there were four customers just left in the lobby so that was a pretty intense situation to try and figure out what was happening.”
“I got up and I asked him should I leave and he said yeah, I don’t know why they wouldn’t take you with them,” he added.
No one was hurt as everyone made their exit. The suspect was taken into custody after giving himself up to police. The couple said they aren’t too happy with how the bank handled the situation.
“I don’t think that their policy says to leave customers in the lobby and that’s what they did ... They’ll be hearing from us,” the man said.
Charges will soon be filed against the suspect.
Local 4 reached out to Chase Bank for comment. As of Monday night, no one from the company has been able to make a statement.
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