MANTECA -- Eighteen tear-gas rounds weren't enough to coax a second bank robbery suspect from a duplex. But a police dog didn't care how stubborn or stupid the man was, police said.
Several hours after tear gas forced the first man to flop out of an attic vent with TV cameras rolling, a Manteca police K-9 climbed a ladder into the attic and used its teeth to secure the second, police said Friday night.
The suspects were armed when they burst into the Bank of America at Yosemite Avenue and Main Street shortly before 11 a.m., shouting for people to get to the floor, police said.
After grabbing a cash tray, they ran out the back door, were spotted by a motorcycle cop and ducked into a vacant unit in a duplex two blocks from the bank.
The first man appeared wobbly and ill when he collapsed onto the roof from an attic vent at 3:45 p.m. Eventually, he gingerly inched toward the roof's edge and a SWAT officer grabbed his leg, yanked him to the ground and pounced on him.
The Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department sent an armored vehicle, four officers and a K-9 unit to help during the standoff. Information on the two suspects, including their names, was not available Saturday night.
The San Joaquin County Sheriff's Department referred questions Saturday to Manteca police, which did not return several calls throughout the day. FBI spokesman Steve Dupre said local and federal prosecutors would confer to decide which agency will file charges.
-- Garth Stapley
RSS
E-Mail
Print
reprint or license
