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csi_sanders1129A Flimsy Excuse for a Robber --
Bank intruder really a cardboard cutoutSaturday, November 29, 2008 BY ALEX ZDAN
MONTGOMERY -- She truly was a two-dimensional villain.
Police fears of an intruder or even a hostage situation inside the PNC Bank in the Blawenburg section of the township Thursday night were deemed unfounded after the discovery that the figure inside was a life-sized cardboard female cutout.
The bank, located in a strip mall on Route 518 in the township, was the scene of a heavy police response from before 8 until 11 p.m. after multiple burglar alarms were activated, police said.
The alarm activations around 7:40 p.m. brought officers to the scene, who investigated the exterior of the building first. The bank, closed for Thanksgiving Day, was locked and had its blinds drawn. But through a side window, police said they could observe a roughly 20-inch closed-circuit video monitor that was cycling through interior views from the surveillance cameras inside. One of the views showed what appeared to them to be a human figure.
The potential person failed to respond to verbal commands, police said. Other officers were called, and a patrolman who was the senior officer on duty called for Somerset County's Emergency Response Team.
The SWAT officers, who are from departments throughout the county, staged in the parking lot. Patrol units from Hopewell Township, Princeton Township and Hillsborough were called to provide traffic control and support for other calls in Montgomery. In all, about 30 officers responded, police said.
Route 601 was closed from its intersection with Route 518 to Skillman Road, and local residents attempting to drive home were instructed to wait nearby.
Township Police Capt.-Director Robert Palmer said the emergency response team was fully assembled within about 45 minutes of being summoned. They were provided a key to the bank from management, and were able to open the front door and deploy an interactive electronic device to allow communication.
"It's kind of amplified, so it would have been nearly impossible not to hear it," Palmer said.
The team issued commands through the speaker, but received no response. After about another 45 minutes, the team made entry into the bank building, and discovered in a room parallel to the front atrium but not visible from outside that the potential suspect was a cardboard cutout. Palmer described it as a full-sized photographic cutout of a woman, more than 5 feet tall. It is believed to have been previously used for some kind of bank promotion.
Palmer said he believes officers took the correct steps in the incident.
"My thoughts on that were that this was a true and correct response," Palmer said.
Lt. Jim Curry said it was determined yesterday that ATM repair workers who were servicing the machine earlier that day accidentally set off the alarm, which indicated break-ins in multiple zones.
Palmer said he could not put a dollar figure on the cost of the operation, but that the time put in by each of the officers will be paid for by their respective departments. Equipment for the SWAT team is budgeted by the county.
"What they are principally budgeting for is material assets or human assets," Palmer said. "There is no money that changes hands in terms of the human asset."
An employee at the bank said yesterday afternoon that the cutout had been removed. PNC Bank spokesman Fred Solomon said the corporation does not comment on the physical security of their institutions.
Curry said there was no visible evidence that made police believe another person could be present, but authorities operated as if there could be a hostage.
"The premise is that there was a person inside the bank," Curry said. "You can never discount that there might be another person in there."
That night, as emergency vehicles began to scatter just before 11 p.m., one of the SWAT officers driving away, still dressed in his camouflage tactical uniform, came to a stop before turning onto Route 518.
"Did you find anyone inside?" someone asked.
"No," the officer said sheepishly, then drove away.
http://www.nj.com/timesoftrenton/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-5/122793514343890.xml&coll=5
Bank intruder really a cardboard cutoutSaturday, November 29, 2008 BY ALEX ZDAN
MONTGOMERY -- She truly was a two-dimensional villain.
Police fears of an intruder or even a hostage situation inside the PNC Bank in the Blawenburg section of the township Thursday night were deemed unfounded after the discovery that the figure inside was a life-sized cardboard female cutout.
The bank, located in a strip mall on Route 518 in the township, was the scene of a heavy police response from before 8 until 11 p.m. after multiple burglar alarms were activated, police said.
The alarm activations around 7:40 p.m. brought officers to the scene, who investigated the exterior of the building first. The bank, closed for Thanksgiving Day, was locked and had its blinds drawn. But through a side window, police said they could observe a roughly 20-inch closed-circuit video monitor that was cycling through interior views from the surveillance cameras inside. One of the views showed what appeared to them to be a human figure.
The potential person failed to respond to verbal commands, police said. Other officers were called, and a patrolman who was the senior officer on duty called for Somerset County's Emergency Response Team.
The SWAT officers, who are from departments throughout the county, staged in the parking lot. Patrol units from Hopewell Township, Princeton Township and Hillsborough were called to provide traffic control and support for other calls in Montgomery. In all, about 30 officers responded, police said.
Route 601 was closed from its intersection with Route 518 to Skillman Road, and local residents attempting to drive home were instructed to wait nearby.
Township Police Capt.-Director Robert Palmer said the emergency response team was fully assembled within about 45 minutes of being summoned. They were provided a key to the bank from management, and were able to open the front door and deploy an interactive electronic device to allow communication.
"It's kind of amplified, so it would have been nearly impossible not to hear it," Palmer said.
The team issued commands through the speaker, but received no response. After about another 45 minutes, the team made entry into the bank building, and discovered in a room parallel to the front atrium but not visible from outside that the potential suspect was a cardboard cutout. Palmer described it as a full-sized photographic cutout of a woman, more than 5 feet tall. It is believed to have been previously used for some kind of bank promotion.
Palmer said he believes officers took the correct steps in the incident.
"My thoughts on that were that this was a true and correct response," Palmer said.
Lt. Jim Curry said it was determined yesterday that ATM repair workers who were servicing the machine earlier that day accidentally set off the alarm, which indicated break-ins in multiple zones.
Palmer said he could not put a dollar figure on the cost of the operation, but that the time put in by each of the officers will be paid for by their respective departments. Equipment for the SWAT team is budgeted by the county.
"What they are principally budgeting for is material assets or human assets," Palmer said. "There is no money that changes hands in terms of the human asset."
An employee at the bank said yesterday afternoon that the cutout had been removed. PNC Bank spokesman Fred Solomon said the corporation does not comment on the physical security of their institutions.
Curry said there was no visible evidence that made police believe another person could be present, but authorities operated as if there could be a hostage.
"The premise is that there was a person inside the bank," Curry said. "You can never discount that there might be another person in there."
That night, as emergency vehicles began to scatter just before 11 p.m., one of the SWAT officers driving away, still dressed in his camouflage tactical uniform, came to a stop before turning onto Route 518.
"Did you find anyone inside?" someone asked.
"No," the officer said sheepishly, then drove away.
http://www.nj.com/timesoftrenton/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-5/122793514343890.xml&coll=5
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Date: 2008-12-08 02:22 am (UTC)