Robbed at Gunpoint: Bank Teller's Account

I am originally from Kalamazoo, Michigan but moved to Peoria, Illinois to attend Bradley University. After working for a bank in Portage, Michigan I decided to look for a part time bank job in Peoria as a teller. After a month I found a job at a bank located in Peoria near Bradley University. Shortly after being hired I was told that the bank had been robbed a year ago and was robbed a year before that as well. Although I worried about the possibility of being robbed for the first couple months, I became comfortable in the bank Branch and soon warded off any thoughts of being robbed. After working for exactly 6 months at the bank, I had to experience what I had previously feared, an armed robbery.

December 23rd, 2008 will be a day forever etched in my mind. I was having a rough week already. My roommate had gone back to visit family for the Holidays and I was stuck in Peoria because I didn't have any vacation time. I had just arrived at 11:00 o'clock as I was running a little late as usual. It was a very busy day and we had a full staff of tellers so I was placed in the far left teller window (there are 5 teller windows, only three are usually used). The branch is setup where if you walk in the main doors the bankers are located in desks to the right, the manager's office is on the left and the teller windows are straight ahead. To the left of the teller windows is the side entry way that is near the outside ATM machine.

I had just finished getting my money from the vault and bought extra money because I knew we would be busy and I didn't want to run back and forth throughout the day. It was around 11:10 that I opened my window and started helping customers. My first customer was customer who had several deposits that I started to run. At 11:14 the side door of the branch opened and time started to stand still. I looked up in a daze to see a man dressed in black with a piece of black nylon covering his face. I had previously had thoughts about what being robbed at the bank would be like, but this experience was far from what I had feared. The man came in the side door (my right) with a silver revolver style gun exposed for everyone in the bank to see. The man calmly but in a stern voice told everyone to get down. At this moment I thought that the robber wanted more than just one teller drawer, but possibly the vault and everyone's valuables. He made sure he had everyone's attention instead of making a discreet robbery.

Whether it's because I was the closest teller to him, or because I am the only male working at the bank, the man came right towards my window and held the gun at the customer who stood in front of my window. The man took a wrinkled up Walmart shopping bag out of his pocket and threw it in my direction. "Put the money in the bag". As I bent over to pick up the bag the man once again pointed the gun at my customer who lied on the floor (I saw this on video after the incident). With the teller to my left next to me, as to attempt to help, I picked up the wadded up bag and frantically tried to open it. I never realized how hard a small plastic bag is to open under pressure. I finally had the bag opened and went to my drawer to reach in for the money as I stared at the gun pointed directly at my head. The first thing my hand landed on was a strap of twenty dollar bills. As I held the plastic bag with one hand and attempted to put the money into it with the other I made a poor hand-off as I fumbled the entire strap of 100 $20 bills onto the floor in front of me. The yelling had now started as the robber was getting very frustrated in what seemed to be hours, in actuality the entire event took 40 seconds.

"Hurry the f**k up", "Put all of the money in the bag", "You're taking too long", "You're taking too f**king long" still rings in my head today. As I had been instructed in training, I did exactly what he said and gave him all of the money in my drawers. As I put the last couple straps of ones that I had in my drawer the robber got very angry; "Stop putting f**king ones","Don't give me those f**king ones". I'm not sure how much money he thought that we are allowed to carry, but it's not an endless amount of 100's and 50's, I was simply finishing up everything I had to give. As the man yelled about the ones I took out my entire open cash box and threw it up onto the counter showing him it was completely empty. Making a sudden move might not have been the best strategy, but at this point I wanted to show him that I had given the last of the money in my possession. The man grabbed the bag, once again pointed the gun at the man on the floor next to my window, and ran away.

As soon as the man had left time had restarted. I felt a shock and emptiness that I had never experienced before. I stood in disbelief for about a minute as another teller ran to the door to lock it and the rest of the employees and customers remained silent and calm. I felt my emotions starting to get the best of me so I went into the back bathroom for several minutes to regain my composure and to make sure I didn't shed any tears in front of my co-workers and customers. I returned to my window surrounded by twenty dollar bills and was empty of thought.

The rest of the day was filled with recounting the figure that I could not pick up any clear description of. It's hard to recall what a completely covered up face looks like and what kind of shoes someone is wearing when looking over a counter. After six hours of answering questions, talking to the FBI, and listening to a bank hired counselor I was free to go home by myself with my thoughts.

A suspect was arrested in connection with this robbery and several others in the Peoria area. I hold nothing at all against the suspect, and wish him the best of luck in the rest of his life and hope he can turn it around. We often look for revenge when people put us in rough situations and when we feel we are wronged, but he had his own reasons, and no one was harmed so I am easily able to forgive.

I still work at the bank and they have made improvements to discourage robberies since the incident.