May 14, 2008

Woman holds up Burlingame bank

City hit with three robberies in one week

By Mark Abramson / Daily News Staff Writer

Authorities are investigating the Tuesday robbery of a U.S. Bank in Burlingame, the third bank heist in the city within a week, according to police.

At 12:45 p.m., a woman held up the U.S. Bank at 1188 El Camino Real, police Cmdr. Mike Matteucci said. The robber indicated she had a gun by putting her purse down in front of a teller, reaching into it and threatening to shoot, Matteucci said. Nobody saw a gun and no one was injured in the robbery.

Police described the suspect as 5 feet 5 inches tall, 140 pounds, and in her early 30s with short black hair. She was wearing a white hat, white T-shirt and gray pants. The woman fled with an undisclosed amount of money. No getaway car was seen.

"It appears to be unrelated to the other two (robberies)," Matteucci said. "Patrol is aware of it and they are doing extra passing checks at banks. ... We can't be at every bank 24 hours a day."

Matteucci said it's unusual for so many bank robberies to take place in a short period of time. It's standard procedure to contact the FBI, which has sent agents to investigate the three robberies, he added.

The first robbery took place May 6, when a man wearing a wig and carrying a duffel bag held up the Union Bank of California at 1887 El Camino Real. The Operating Engineers Federal Credit Union, at 828 Mahler Road, was held up at gunpoint last Friday.

Anyone with information about the robberies is asked to contact the Burlingame Police Department at 650-777-4100.



Bay City News contributed to this report.



E-mail Mark Abramson at mabramson@dailynewsgroup.com.