Bank Robbed

3 Suspects Nabbed

Bank Robbed

By William B. Treml

And

Owen Eshenroder

(News Police Reporters)

A service station operator who remained on a telephone to give police a step-by-step running report of a bank robbery in progress was being hailed today as a key figure in the moments-later capture of three suspects.

William Van Buren, a partner in the B. and J. Boron Service, 2025 Packard St., glanced across the street at 11:45 a.m. today and saw three men enter the Ann Arbor Bank branch at 1923 Packard St. At the same time a woman customer came out of the bank building and hurried over to Van Buren’s station.

She told Van Buren the three men pulled masks over their faces as they passed her while entering the building and it appeared they intended to rob the bank. Van Buren immediately called the Ann Arbor Police Department.

As he talked to a radio dispatcher at police headquarters he saw a male customer drop to the floor moments after he

entered the front door of the bank. Seconds later Van Buren saw one of the bandits leap over a counter of the bank with a money bag in his hand.

The other two suspects appeared to be crouched near railings facing the main entrance, apparently watching for customers coming in.

Van Buren recounted to the police dispatcher that the three robbers walked unhurriedly out the door of the bank and got into a Mustang parked in the lot. As the dispatcher took details of the robbery every available police unit was dispatched to the area.

Van Buren, 35, of 5895 Gotfredson Rd., Plymouth, said of witnessing the robbery, “I thought sure as the world they (the bandits) saw me talking to the police. That will give you butterflies . . . I thought they might pull into the station and BANG!”

One unit was the Police Department’s dog control pickup truck driven by Steven Hill, 20, son of City Police Lt. Richard G. Hill. Hill's truck was the closest police vehicle to the area and the youth set out in pursuit of the bandit car.

The suspects apparently saw the truck approaching them from behind and one of the men fired nine shots at the pursuing vehicle. The slugs went wild and Hill was unhurt.

Moments later the bandits’ car was hemmed in and forced to stop by several police cruisers at Stone and Champagne. That intersection is off Stone School Rd. less than two miles from the scene of the robbery.

The three men were taken into custody at gun point after a foot chase and all the money taken from the bank was recovered, police said. The suspects were being questioned at police headquarters early this afternoon.

One of the suspects while being transported to police headquarters said of the chase by young Hill: “Whoever that kid was in the truck should get a citation for that kind of driving.”

Lt. Hill, who listened to his son recounting over the police radio his pursuit of the robbers, said he was unnerved only when Steve was heard saying: “Hey, they’re shooting at me!”