Early today a man walked into the U.S. Bank on the corner of Mission and 16th streets, passed the teller a note asking for money and then left, according to police.
It’s not clear if the suspect managed to take any money with him, but one officer said that he did escape.
“He was too slick, he got away,” the officer on the scene said.
Inside, officers could be seen interviewing tellers, and at one point a fingerprint team walked out.
As customers continued to try the bank’s locked door, Mr. Duong, a manager, came to the door to announce that the bank would not reopen until Wednesday.
Mission Police Captain Robert Moser confirmed that a note asking the teller for money was passed. Another officer on the scene said that the robbery suspect was unarmed.
The suspect was described as a Hispanic man, 30-40 years old and between 5 feet 1 inch and 5 feet 7 inches tall. He was wearing a gray sweater with a zipper, said police spokesman Albie Esparza.
Police searched the area but said that the suspect is still at large. It’s not clear at this time whether the suspect was acting alone or with others. The street in front of the bank was blocked to vehicles for a short while, but traffic is back to normal.
One officer went into the Union Hotel at 2030 Mission Street, but it wasn’t clear if that was related to the search for the robbery suspect.
We will update this story as we get more information.
Mission Local’s picture shows a security camera pointed at the line. Yet all the police describe is a Hispanic man 5’5 – 5’7, 30-40 years old, in the Mission! Do they realize how many people fit that description?
I was driving in the Mission around that time and wondered what was going on. I thought it must have been a really significant event because there weere so many cops just standing around hanging out, joking and talking to each other. It was only a branch bank robbery? That’s all? This used to be called featherbedding. What’s it called now under the police union contract? When the SF budget is so short that law enforcement has to be cut, why does this kind of thing continually happen?
Between 5’1 and 5’7″??? That’s quite a range and would take a pretty unobservant bank teller for that kind of description. And… no cameras in the bank???