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'Takeover' robbery Tuesday in Pleasanton
Three men involved, at least one with handgun

by Glenn Wohltmann

Armed men held up a Pleasanton bank Tuesday, with one jumping over the counter and emptying teller drawers.

Pleasanton police and the FBI are investigating what Lt. Mark Senkle called a "takeover robbery" at Union Bank at the Crossroads Shopping Center in the 4700 block of Hopyard Road just after noon. Usually bank robbers approach a teller quietly rather than commanding everyone's attention, he said.

Three men were involved in today's robbery; while one waited in a car outside, two -- at least one of them armed with a semiautomatic handgun -- entered the bank, Senkle reported. One of the men vaulted the counter and emptied teller drawers and the pair was out in minutes.

The car involved, a Subaru Legacy, "was taken in a carjacking in Emeryville," Senkle said. He said that car was dumped in a neighborhood "not too far from where the robbery took place."

Police are examining the car for evidence.

A bystander was slightly injured in the holdup.

"A customer was pushed and fell down," Senkle said, adding that the man was not seriously injured.

Descriptions of the men vary because all three had their faces covered. Police are reviewing video camera footage of the robbery, but Senkle described all three as small in stature.

An undisclosed amount of money was taken. The FBI is involved because the robbery may be part of a string of holdups.

Senkle said Pleasanton gets several bank robberies a year, but rarely any of a potentially violent nature.