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A middle-aged Spanish-speaking man wearing a long, curly red or auburn wig held up the Alliance Credit Union office at 503 Cowper St. in downtown Palo Alto shortly after 5 p.m. today (Wednesday) and walked out with an undisclosed amount of money.

Agent Dan Ryan reported that a man entered the office at 5:02 p.m. and handed a teller a demand note, speaking to her in Spanish. He placed the cash in a bag he had carried in with him, and fled out the front door.

The robber was described as about 40, Hispanic, between 5 feet 10 inches and 6 feet tall, with a mustache and wearing a red or auburn-colored wig with long curly hair. He wore a tan baseball cap, sunglasses and a white or pale-yellow dress shirt with red stripes.

No one saw which way he went after he left the office, Ryan said.

Evidence technicians worked into the evening at the credit union office. Anyone who may have witnessed the robbery or seen thie suspect is asked call the department’s anonymous tip line at 650-329-2190.

— Palo Alto Weekly staff

— Palo Alto Weekly staff

— Palo Alto Weekly staff

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12 Comments

  1. Banks remind sheep these days. Serves them right.
    “No one saw which way he went after he left the office” – how about cameras outside the bank, stupid!

  3. No one thought to walk to the door and see where he went, or if he got into a car? I wonder what would have happened if the teller hadn’t understood Spanish…….

  4. “And how about bullet proof glass screens between the tellers and customers?”
    Sure, why not? It’s a great way to lose thugs AND customers.

    Or, do what First Republic Bank does and have the tellers sit behind actual desks and give personal one-on-one attention to their customers. They greet their customers by name as they enter the door. The money is kept in another room. What robber in his right mind would sit at a desk while the teller leaves the room to get the loot? You never hear about robberies at First Republic. They must be doing something right.

  5. I have been banking at this bank for 15+ years and they are closing for good at the end of the month. This is a inside Job and the second time they got robbed in less than 4 months. How somebody speaking Spanish and dressed like Ronald Mc Donald doesnt get noticed walking in dowtown Palo Alto across from a major Restaurant/hotel with outside seating and bell boy/parkin attendants, a yoga place right next door with full glass windows, and a California Pizza Kitchen to doors down at 5pm!!!!!!!!! Whatever it’s so packed in that area at 5pm you can barely find parking nearby.

  7. I love Alliance. They’ve been robbed a number of times & used to have the bulletproof glass. I didn’t like it, but thought it was safer. Maybe they were too scared to see what way the robber went, or had to call the police asap & couldn’t also run to the front door.

  8. Will all of you have been in a robbery please raise your hands? This can be a terrifying and traumatic experience and one where they are taught to do exactly what they are told by the robber. There are people with red curly hair in this world, so why automatically assume that they should have suspected it was a wig at first sight?
    Instead of commenting on your opinion of their intelligence, honesty and integrity, PLEASE consider the terror they were going through at the time, and believe me, if you have NOT been through it, you have absolutely no cause to judge!

  9. It’s a shame. Nice little bank that provides great services, even for Credit Unions on the other side of the country. Hard to believe no one saw anything. A silent alarm would be the best approach. Put a note on Craig’s list. Someone will remember which way the guy went. What a bummer that the bank is closing. I’ll miss it.

  12. Mike,

    There were signs on the door and ATM machine that they were closing next weekend. I have an account there too, and I don’t recall getting any notice in the mail, either.

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