Four armed suspects were being sought in Orange yesterday for staging a noontime holdup outside the National Westminster Bank on Main Street, according to Police Director Charles Cobbertt.

No shots were fired, and no injuries were reported in the 12:10 incident.

However, the suspects forced two security guards to lie down while they took $915 from them, including $815 in coins, Cobbertt said.

The security guards, employed by Dillon Security, worked out of the Veterans Administration Hospital in neighboring East Orange. After making a transaction, the guards left by the rear of the bank, off S. Day Street, Cobbertt said.

As the pair approached their car to return to the hospital, "three people walked up to them, told them to 'hit the ground', took money bags from them, handcuffed one victim" and unsuccessfully tried to handcuff the other, Cobbertt said.

The bandits also managed to take a loaded .38-caliber gun from one of the guards and to grab the victim's wallet andn identification, the director added.

Almost simultaneously, Cobbertt continued, another man drove up in a red car. The driver picked up the three bandits, and all four sped off down S. Day Street toward Route 280.

When the two victims got up off the ground, they ran inside the bank and asked that police be telephoned. The police arrived at the bank "within 30 seconds," but the bandits were gone Cobbertt noted.

All four suspects were described as "black males," Cobbertt said. One was about 5 foot 9, dark complexioned and wearing blue jeans and a beige jacket, while another was "6 feet tall and wearing security-guard-type pants."

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“Reach Back with One Hand and Pull Someone Else Up With You.”

– Charles C. Cobbertt

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