Ladies and gentlemen: The story you are about to hear is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.
Jack Webb, Dragnet
This event took place several years ago when there was a PNC Bank in the Blawenburg Village Square shopping center. This reporting of the event is only slightly embellished!
Alarming Event
On Thanksgiving evening of November 27, 2008, most people in the Village of Blawenburg were in a semi-comatose state after having an overdose of tryptophan, the amino acid found in turkey that makes us feel sleepy. But the police were on standby, ready for any event. At 8:40pm, an alarm went off at the PNC Bank, signaling a problem in Blawenburg Village Square at the intersection of Routes 518 and 601. Such alarm calls are not unusual since they could be triggered by anything from a heating system failure to a mouse tripping a laser alarm.
The officer on duty responded to the alarm in reasonable time and certainly didn’t expect what he found. He pulled into the parking area at the entrance to the bank, casually grabbed his flashlight, and got out of his car to see what was happening. He figured it was a routine alarm call. No big deal. The shades were drawn in the bank, so visibility of what or who was inside was very limited. As he peered in, he could see the main area of the bank. He really didn’t expect to see anything, but what he saw got his heart racing immediately. Any tryptophan in his system was overtaken by a rush of adrenalin, and any lethargy from his turkey dinner earlier in the day was gone in an instant. He was wide awake and ready to act. Though he could barely see into the bank, he thought he saw a shadowy figure standing next to the teller’s window. Oh, no! he thought. There’s a person in the bank.
He knew better than to tackle this alone, so he returned to his car and called for backup. “Bank robbery in progress,” he likely told the dispatcher. “Send more officers. No lights flashing or sirens wailing.” In a matter of minutes, three other police cars appeared on the scene. After some excited discussion, the officers decided to confront the intruder. The sergeant on duty got a bullhorn from his car and approached the entryway. The other officers stood back with guns drawn. He looked in the window as best he could and concluded that the responding officer was correct. For the next few minutes, the sergeant repeatedly told the intruder to give up and come out with his hands in the air. His petitions were to no avail, however.
The presence of police cars and the noise of the bullhorn caught the attention of the residents in the apartments above the stores and bank. They were looking out their windows and a few came downstairs to see what was going on. The four officers were having trouble keeping the crowd away from the scene.
Calling for Help
A SWAT team during a training exercise.
The sergeant decided it was time to get even more backup. They petitioned for more help through the Somerset County police communication system. Within an hour, three SWAT teams arrived from nearby communities. Now there were over 30 officers on the scene. All the while, the intruder remained silent and hadn’t left the building.
Fully dressed for combat and carrying assault rifles, the SWAT team evacuated the building, closed off Route 518 and 601, and finally entered the bank with guns drawn. The intruder still didn’t move. The first thing they noticed was that the intruder was a woman, about 5’ 5”. It looked like she was holding something too large to be a gun. As he gingerly approached the suspect, the SWAT team leader broke out in laughter when he realized that the woman was a cut-out figure holding a sign encouraging patrons to sign up for a checking account at PNC Bank. Later, the officers would joke that maybe the woman in the bank was a reincarnation of the infamous female bank robber Bonnie Parker!
Bonnie Parker, partner in the Great Depression bank robbery team of Bonnie and Clyde
Within a short time, the SWAT team left, the roads were opened, the residents returned to their apartments, the bank was secured, and the village returned to normal. Perhaps the apartment dwellers noshed on a few more pieces of turkey to help them go to sleep that night.
In a report to the public after the event, the sergeant said his officers did just what they should have given that they didn’t know who the intruder was or why she was in the bank. He reminded everyone that no one was injured and there was no robbery.
But there was more to this tale. The media love this type of story. Clips with various degrees of accuracy emerged in the news media, being covered by USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, London Times, and others. Recently, it was recalled on 101.5 FM, citing it as one of the best bank robbery stories ever in New Jersey.
Thanks First Responders
This standoff was quite an event, keeping 30 officers from three communities and others involved for three hours on an evening when they might have been sleeping off their dose of tryptophan on their favorite couch. Despite the humorous nature of the event, it’s good to know that when there is an emergency (or even a perceived emergency), police in our community respond quickly and seriously. Thanks to all our first responders for the great work you do.
FACTS
1. SWAT stands for Special Weapons and Tactics team. It is the name of a police tactical unit that is deployed in high-risk situations. SWAT teams are used in situations such as standoffs that regular police are not trained or equipped to handle.
Jack Webb (1920 -1982)
2. Webb portrayed Sgt. Joe Friday on the TV and radio series Dragnet. Each show began with the quote that leads this blog.
3. There are about 4,000 bank robberies every year in the US. Most are committed by perpetrators approaching the teller and asking for money.
4. The police and SWAT team were probably not the only first responders at this event. The two Montgomery Fire Departments were likely called to help with traffic, and the EMS were probably on hand in case of any injuries.
SOURCES
Information
Los Angeles Times
Various other news media
Thanks to Ken Chrusz for reminding me of this event and providing content.
Pictures
PNC bank logo - PNC Financial Services, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Bonnie Parker – public domain
Editor—Barb Reid
Email: blawenburgtales@gmail.com
Blog website: http://www.blawenburgtales.com
Author site: http://www.dcochran.net
Copyright © 2024 by David Cochran. All rights reserved.
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