WWW.LSPDONLINE.NET Los Santos Police Department Press Release Wednesday, March 22nd, 2023 "TO PROTECT AND TO SERVE" |
LSPD & LSSD SAVE HOSTAGE, RECOVER STOLEN MONEY
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In the early morning hours of Friday March 3rd, the Los Santos Police Department dispatch received a silent alarm from the Fleeca Bank on Boulevard Del Perro. Several units responded alongside units from the Sheriff's Department, who had been contacted to assist due to low coverage during the night shift. As units arrived on scene they noted two vehicles parked in front of the entrance to the bank and were met by three masked suspects who informed units they were holding a civilian hostage. Due to the elevated threat level with an innocent civilian's life on the line, officers and deputies began putting down pedestrian and road barriers, closing down the block from the west of Morningwood Boulevard to the east by Dorset Drive to create a secure perimeter. An officer from the LSPD Metropolitan Division was chosen to initiate negotiation talks with the suspects to try and resolve the situation peacefully.
The LSPD attempted to negotiate with the suspects for nearly 20 minutes, trying to come to a solution that didn't involve further risk to the innocent civilian being kept hostage. The three suspects demanded that two of them be allowed to leave the bank while the third remained at the bank with the hostage to surrender themselves when the first two had escaped with the stolen money. However, this was an unacceptable outcome due to the continued threat and risk of life toward the hostage.
A unit from the LSPD Detective Bureau took over the negotiations. After another 10 minutes, a deal was made with the suspects. They agreed to leave the bank together but demanded additional time to empty the bank's vault in exchange for the safety of the hostage. The terms were agreed upon and a unit began quietly preparing for a pursuit while the suspects periodically entered and exited a Journey RV that had been moved to the front.
Everything was going according to plan as the suspects continued to move about inside the bank with law enforcement ready outside. However, the RV began driving away from the bank while one of the suspects was still visible inside the bank with the hostage. As the terms of the deal had been breached, and the suspects began threatening to shoot the suspect, the call was made engage the suspects in order to put an end to the situation before it spiraled out of control. As units surrounded and apprehended the driver of the RV, units at the bank simultaneously neutralised the suspect with the hostage. The third suspect was found hiding inside the RV when it was breached by a team of LSSD's Special Enforcement Detail. All three suspects were secured and arrested for their crimes and later transported to DOC for imprisonment, while the hostage was secured safe and sound and checked out by medical staff before being released.
Inside the RV units had found several safes scattered around, the money nowhere else to be found. The owner of the RV, one of the suspects, was contacted in regard to revealing the code to have them opened safely rather than breached with explosives. The suspect cooperated and gave the arresting officer a code which was relayed to units still on scene, who were then able to open all the safes inside the RV. Inside, bags upon bags of stolen money were found, documented, and temporarily stored at the Mission Row police station with the help of several units. A count revealed that no less than 215 bags had been recovered, worth more than $750,000, all of which was safely returned to the bank it had been stolen from.
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CONTACT INFORMATION
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Written By:
Police Sergeant I Thomas Pennyworth
Senior Media Relations Officer, Media Relations Unit
[email protected]
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For Information, Contact:
Media Relations Division Public Inquiries
Los Santos Police Department
Sinner Street 69, Mission Row
Los Santos, SA, 90013
