Armored car robberies involve multiple masked and armed perpetrators forcibly taking money or valuables from a stationary or in-transit vehicle. They often involve violence and are rare compared to bank robberies. Robbers study the car’s movements and use stolen vehicles, explosives, and tear gas. In about 40% of cases, perpetrators are not caught. These robberies occur outside of banks, ATMs, jewelers, casinos, and large retailers. Some robberies involve unique methods of escape, such as scuba gear or an inner tube down a creek.
An armored car robbery is a type of criminal activity in which robbers forcibly remove money or valuables from a vehicle designed for the safe transportation of such items. A typical armored car robbery, which can occur when the vehicle is stationary or in transit, involves multiple perpetrators, usually masked and armed, overpowering or intimidating the car operators and taking the valuables. Armored car thefts are a rare type of crime and often end in violence.
The typical armored car robbery happens in two ways. The most common incidence occurs when the vehicle is parked at a business and transfers valuables to the business from the car or to the car from the business. Thieves often surprise the car attendants, hold them at gunpoint or incapacitate them, and take the valuables. A second type of armored car robbery involves stopping the vehicle in transit after loading valuables. The robbers used explosives and tear gas to force the crew of the vehicle out, where they are typically held while valuables are taken.
It is common for armored car thieves to study a car’s movements in the time before the event. Thieves usually steal a car in which to approach the armored car and abandon the stolen vehicle after the robbery. Authors usually mask their faces. Armored car robberies have occurred outside of banks, ATMs, jewelers, casinos and large retailers, among other businesses.
Armored car thefts are rare. A survey of seven California counties, for example, showed nine armored car robberies over a two-year period in 2008 and 2009. During the same period, there were more than 800 bank robberies in the same geographic area. In about 40% of armored car robberies, the perpetrators are not caught.
These types of robberies can often involve physical violence. In an armored car robbery, it is typical for both the robbers and the robbed to be armed, which experts say increases the chances of injury. A survey of 112 armored car thefts in the United States indicated that 123 armored car guards were killed.
Some robberies do not fit into any category. In one case, the perpetrators broke into an ATM company’s warehouse, loaded cash into an armored car, and then fled in a car. A Seattle, Washington robber overpowered an armored car guard with pepper spray on his face, took a bag of cash, and then fled on an inner tube down a creek near the scene. In another robbery in Washington state, the robber escaped using scuba gear.
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