By BILL MONTGOMERY , Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta police this morning thwarted a bank robbery and arrested an armed man believed to have spent the night inside a Wachovia branch on Lakewood Avenue waiting for the bank to open.
Robbery detectives believe the suspect got inside the branch with keys stolen Thursday night from a woman cleaning another Wachovia branch on Lee Street, said Atlanta police spokeswoman Marion Lee.
Lee did not have the identity of the suspect, who she said was wearing a mask.
The gunman confronted a teller who opened the Lakewood Avenue bank before 9 a.m. today. Another teller who had arrived with her waited outside for a signal to enter. “When she didn’t get that signal, she knew something was wrong and called police,” Lee said.
Officers arrested the suspect as he walked outside.
About 9:15 p.m. Thursday, a gunman abducted a woman taking out the trash from a Wachovia branch in the 600 branch of Lee Street S.W., Lee said.
The man bound and gagged Rosalyn Harris, 41, took her keys and several keys from the bank. He forced her into the trunk of her car and drove off, abandoning the vehicle on the Lakewood Freeway at Perkerson Road, Lee said.
Harris escaped unharmed by pulling the release lever inside the trunk, and flagged down a passing motorist, Lee said.