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US bank robbers flee with last hostage
(AP)
Updated: 2006-01-11 08:57
Two armed robbers fled a bank near Walt Disney World with one hostage Tuesday
after sheriff's deputies tried to end an hours-long standoff by blasting through
a rear door.
Deputies were using cell phones to negotiate with the suspects, who were
trapped in a car with the female hostage after they tried to escape in a bank
employee's vehicle.
They drove less than a mile from the bank but turned around after being
surrounded by barricaded streets. The robbers then shot at deputies but nobody
was injured, authorities said.
The suspects, who appeared to be wearing heavy coats, masks and wigs, had
been holed up in the Mercantile Bank since Tuesday morning. They held four
hostages at one point.
Law enforcement officers move into position
during a standoff at the Mercantile Bank in Kissimmee, Fla. on Tuesday,
Jan. 10, 2006.[AP] | The first was released when
the robbers panicked when deputies arrived so quickly after the robbery, said
sheriff's spokeswoman Twis Lizasuain.
The second was freed in exchange for cigarettes and the third after deputies
agreed to back their vehicles a few feet farther away from the bank, Lizasuain
said.
Finally, police threw an explosive device into the back of the bank as the
robbers ran out the door and jumped into a bank employee's car, authorities
said.
Lizasuain said none of the three released hostages was hurt, and the suspects
have said they don't intend to harm anyone. She said at least one of the robbers
was armed, but did not specify a weapon.
Police shut down the area, leaving some tourists confined to their hotels for
much of the day.
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