Woman, man robbed at ATMs

Police warn of a recent increase in such crimes

Hours after police put out a public safety advisory about an “uptick” in robberies at ATMs, at least two more people were victimized Monday night at machines outside a Montclair district bank and on Lakeshore Avenue.

The bank victim was a 76-year-old woman and the Lakeshore Avenue victim a 51-year-old man, authorities said.

Police said it does not appear at this time that the Monday robberies were committed by the same suspects.

The woman was robbed by at least one man about 10:14 p.m. Monday outside the Wells Fargo Bank branch in the Village Square Shopping Center, 2220 Mountain Blvd. The woman was forced to give the suspect cash she had just withdrawn from an ATM machine. The suspect then made her withdraw some more money and give it to him, police said. The suspect fled on foot. The woman was not injured.

About 11:45 p.m., the 51-year-old man was confronted by four suspects, including at least one armed with a gun, at an ATM outside the Wells Fargo Bank branch, 3348 Lakeshore Ave. at Trestle Glen Road.

He was forced to turn over an undisclosed amount of cash and cell phones, authorities said. The man was not hurt.

Detailed descriptions of the suspects in the Monday night robberies have not been released.

Police and Crime Stoppers of Oakland are offering up to $2,500 in reward money in the Monday robberies for information leading to the arrests of the suspects. Anyone with information may call police at 510-238-3326 or Crime Stoppers at 510-777-8572.

Police had issued a public safety advisory late Monday afternoon via emails and their social media platforms alerting people about an uptick in ATM robberies. There have been well over a dozen such robberies throughout the city this month, investigators said. Not all have been committed by the same suspects. Robberies overall are up 14 percent so far this year over last year at this time, according to department data.

In some cases victims have been robbed at the machines and in others the victim has been followed home or to another location after using an ATM and robbed, the advisory said.

As part of the advisory, police provided suggestions on how to reduce the risk of being robbed at an ATM

Among them is whenever possible use an ATM inside a bank branch, following a withdrawal immediately put the cash away, and always scan the area and watch for suspicious people or activity around an ATM. And if you realize you are being followed drive to a safe place, including the police department or a fire station, and call 911.

To deal with the increase, police said additional officers have been deployed to the areas targeted by robbers.