As a private investigator, I have seen this twice while on surveillance and, in this week’s video, tell of a third time that involved a police S.W.A.T. Team who watched an armed robbery in progress.
Also, while I have written the book, How to Make a Citizen’s Arrest (by Larry Kaye), I highly recommend that you do not make an arrest in this circumstance. Paperback here on Amazon. eBook here on Amazon.
Here are a five indicator’s that a robbery is about to take place…
1. The robber is dropped off so anyone in the store cannot see the vehicle he arrived in.
2. The (get-a-way) vehicle will pull around the corner or behind the store so when the robber flees, if anyone does follow, they will not see the vehicle he gets into.
3. The suspicious person puts up his hoodie before he enters the store. Think about it for a moment, why wear your hood down outside then put it up before you enter the store? Maybe to help conceal your identity?
4. The suspect pulls the strings of his hoodie tight before he goes into the store. This makes a little “face hole” he can see out of, but does a lot to help conceal his identity from the clerk and store cameras.
5. The vehicle will depart in the opposite direction that the robber fled on foot.
That means, if the robber fled on foot out of the store and southbound, he will (often) run behind the store and hop into the get-a-way vehicle and drive off northbound.
Remember, if you see these indicators of a robbery in progress while you’re on surveillance, you may want to get video of the robber, the vehicle and especially try to get the license plate number of the vehicle… all from a safe distance of course.
Let me know if you have any questions!
Stay safe,
Larry Kaye, P.I.
P.S. – Don’t miss my special report titled… If You Want To Be a Private Investigator Give Up… Unless You Do These Three Things. You can get it on the home page of my blog.