Home Invasion/Hostage Vault Robberies

Take The Family Pictures Off Your Desk!
by Brooke Blake

A rash of home invasion and bomb threat type robberies has hit financial institutions, (particularly in the south and southeast), with activity on the increase by gangs, copycats, youth gangs and others during the past two years-escalating sharply in the past six months.

One series of attacks is credited to one man, FBI fugitive Douglas Roy Daigle, who is wanted in Birmingham, AL, and Knoxville, Chattanooga and Clarksville, TN. Copycat gangs of Daigle's methods have already been arrested for similar robberies in Tennessee, and in Atlanta, GA. Other gangs, which may be under the leadership of Daigle, are still on the loose and very active. Similar incidents using his methods were reported from Atlantic City, NJ and Plano, TX.

Victims are usually female branch managers who are followed (stalked), sometimes for weeks, in a target selection that aims for the most vulnerable family or house to execute the home invasion evening entry. Husbands have been tied to beds with bomb devices attached to their bodies. The "bombs" in each case so far have turned out to be phony.

The branch manager is told throughout the night how she must enter the branch the next morning before opening and have the staff empty the vault and the ATM of contents in return for the safe release of family hostages. Branch personnel are instructed not to activate alarms, not to put teargas dye packs in with the money, and not to call anyone until the safe release of the manager and her family. In some attacks the manager is wired for sound or ordered to carry a two-way portable radio. She is instructed to leave the money in her unlocked vehicle with the keys in the ignition, at a designated drop location such as a supermarket or shopping mall parking lot. She is warned not to call law enforcement until after a designated amount of time.

To date, no managers or family members have been physically injured and no real bombs have been used. Losses, however, continue to spiral, with the latest victim banks losing in excess of a half million dollars. The targets so far have been regional or state-wide size banks. In reality, of course, a major commercial deposit (such as Walmart) could make even a community size bank a target. The FBI cautions that rural, isolated or low-traffic suburban branches are particularly "high threat" areas. Gangs in Augusta, Georgia whose members ranged from 16 to 18 years old, stalked tellers from different banks and selected a teller whose pattern showed an easy Saturday morning bank opening/entry. The teller's parents and child were victims of a Friday afternoon home invasion with the teller and another child taken hostage when she came home from work. Other family members were taken hostage after four more family members made an unexpected Friday night visit!

This gang was caught, and the arresting FBI agents discovered through questioning that members of the gang had learned how to run this kind of hostage/robbery while they were serving time in the state's Youth Detention Center.

Five gang members were arrested in Atlanta who blundered a 5:00a.m. home invasion attempt. The branch manager's husband, mother and child were tied together in a bathtub. In this case the vault robbery attempt was aborted because the robbers saw too many cars at the branch before it opened. Other perpetrators have grabbed employees as they leave their home in the morning, forcing them back inside to gain control of them and their spouse and/or family, and then instruct them on the plan to enter the bank and the vault.

It is obvious this problem will not go away.

Financial institution targets are managers, tellers and customer service representatives. And financial institutions are not the only targets-restaurant and retail industries are also vulnerable.

Home invasion, bomb construction, instructions on how to burglarize an ATM-all are well published on the Internet, shown in movies, and described in detail in the newspaper and on TV. We have to learn how to protect ourselves.

Now is the time to remove the family pictures on desks and get serious about crime prevention. Become aware of your surroundings- both at home and at work. If something makes you suspicious, report it. Learn to watch and remember what and who is reflected in your rear view mirror. Change your route and your times-don't be predictable in your movements. Observe what is going on around you. Alert your families to this situation and educate them on what to watch for. Develop and work out action plans between employees, families, and law enforcement. There is no better time than now to have your local police come in and do some personal protection training. Remember the three "Ps" of security, good Planning Prevents Panic.

Become a tough target.

Brooke Blake is Vice President and Security Training and Compliance Officer for SunTrust Bank in Atlanta Georgia, and is a well known speaker and trainer in all the United States on the subject of Security. A former special agent with the FBI, he is an advisor to the BANKERS' HOTLINE and a frequent contributor of articles and material.

Copyright © 1997 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 7, No. 3, 2/97