An armed gunman robbed the Turlock Rabobank on Monte Vista Avenue escaping with an undisclosed amount of money.

The suspect entered the bank at 2190 W. Monte Vista Ave., around 10 a.m. Thursday.  Turlock Police Sgt. Russell Holeman said the suspect had a gun concealed in his backpack and pulled it out when he entered the bank.

The suspect ordered the bank employees take him to the vault, where he removed an undisclosed sum of cash.

He fled the area on foot, Holeman said.

There were no injuries reported and there were no customers in the bank at the time of the robbery.

“The employees did exactly what they should have done, which was complying with him,” Holeman said.

The suspect was described as a white man about 30 to 40 years old. He is about 6 feet tall and weighs about 220 pounds and has a mustache and goatee. He was wearing blue jeans, a grey hooded sweatshirt, a baseball cap, sunglasses, and gloves.

Thursday’s bank robbery came days after the Federal Bureau of Investigations released a report that indicates bank crimes are occurring less frequently in the second quarter of 2010 as compared to last year.

During the second quarter of 2010, there were 1,146 reported violations of the Federal Bank Robbery and Incidental Crimes Statute, a decrease from the 1,304 reported violations in the same quarter of 2009.  According to statistics released today by the FBI, there were 1,135 robberies, 11 burglaries, zero larcenies, and one extortion of financial institutions reported between April 1 and June 31.

Not all bank crimes are reported to the FBI, and therefore the report is not a complete statistical compilation of all bank crimes that occurred in the U.S.

In the cases reported to the FBI, money was taken 91 percent of the time for a total of $8.4 million in stolen loot. Of that, 21 percent or more than $1.3 million was recovered and returned to the financial institutions.

The report found that bank crimes most commonly occur on Fridays. Regardless of the day, the time frame when bank crimes occurred most frequently was between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.

Other statistics reported by the FBI:

• Acts of violence were committed in 5 percent of the incidents, resulting in 23 injuries, five deaths, and nine persons being taken hostage.
• Oral demands and demand notes were the most common modus operandi used.
• Most violations occurred in the Western region of the U.S., with 403 reported incidents.
• The number of persons known to be involved in the 1,146 robberies, burglaries, and larcenies was 1,364. Of that number, 1,256 were males and 108 were females. The race breakdown was 601 Caucasian; 600 African-American; 85 Hispanic; 22 other; and 37 unknown. In a small number of cases, the use of full disguise makes determination of race and sex impossible.

Anyone with information about Thursday’s robbery or the suspect is asked to contact Turlock Police Detective Steven Hammell at 664-7328 or Crime Stoppers at 521-4636. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward.

To contact Sabra Stafford, e-mail sstafford@turlockjournal.com or call 634-9141 ext. 2002.