Fainting Teller Foils Bank Robber

Sat., Oct. 9, 1999

From Staff

Robbing banks is not for the faint of heart, but foiling would-be robbers just might be.

On Wednesday afternoon, a man walked into the Wells Fargo Bank in Ballard, approached a teller and handed her a note demanding money.

The teller fainted.

At that point, “The man apparently had a change of heart and suddenly became a caring individual,” said FBI spokesman Ray Lauer.

The would-be robber then yelled to other tellers, telling them their co-worker needed help. When they walked over to see what was the matter, the man strolled out, leaving before anyone knew what he had been up to moments earlier.

When the woman came to, the tellers called authorities, but the man already had disappeared, albeit empty-handed. The FBI and Seattle Police Department, who described the suspect as white and in his 20s with dark hair, said they were still looking for him.

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