$25,000 reward is being offered
The FBI is asking for the public's help in identifying a "person of interest" in a bank robbery and an attempted robbery in the same general area last weekend.
According to a news release from the FBI, workers arriving at work last Saturday (Dec. 29) at the Bank of America at 48th St. and Ray Rd. in Ahwatukee discovered a coworker already there with some type of device around her neck. The Phoenix Police bomb squad arrived, determined that the device was non-explosive, and removed it.
The woman told investigators that a man had come to her house the previous evening and held her hostage, then forced her to go to the bank with him on Saturday morning and open the bank for him. However, the man was unable to access to bank's vault and left before anyone else arrived.
A few hours later, a US Bank branch inside a Safeway grocery store on Chandler Blvd. near Alma School Rd. in Chandler was robbed. The FBI has now released surveillance photos from the US Bank.
It has also released surveillance photos from a Target Store at 48th St. and Ray Rd. taken the same day. According to the agency's news release, "At this time, the FBI is not releasing why it believes this individual is a person of interest due to the ongoing investigation."
The Bank of America is offering a $25,000 reward for the arrest and conviction of the suspect(s) in the incident at its branch.
If you have any information about the identity of the person of interest, call the FBI at (623) 466-1366 or visit www.BanditTrackerArizona.com .
More surveillance photos:
