Suspects in bank robbery nabbed

Three men who Metro Police flushed out of an eastern Las Vegas housing project Monday are being investigated as suspects in a bank robbery that occurred hours earlier.

During the robbery, gunmen shoved a Wells Fargo bank teller to the ground in their scramble to steal cash.

The suspects, who police only described as between the ages of 20 and 30, surrendered about noon as SWAT, K-9 and patrol officers swarmed the dilapidated beige-and-blue complex off Charleston Boulevard and Honolulu Street, bordered by U.S. 95.

The suspects were taken to the detective bureau downtown for questioning. Authorities had yet to charge the men with any crimes as of Monday.

The arrests ended an almost two-hour search by police and FBI agents for three robbers who stormed the Wells Fargo Bank branch in the 800 block of North Rancho Road about 10:30 a.m.

Witnesses described an aggressive heist that involved armed men forcing customers to the bank floor, and tellers opening cash drawers at gun point, authorities said.

The men left the bank's parking lot in one car and headed to Delamar Street, near Rancho and Bonanza roads, where neighbors saw them load up a second car with weapons and suspected cash bags before they left, Lt. John Alamshaw said.

Authorities tracked the second car to the Charleston housing complex a few miles away. Police determined the suspects were hiding out in one of the units, Alamshaw said.

Police evacuated the nearby units. SWAT's assistance was sought when the occupants of the suspected unit failed to come out. Officers yelling on a bullhorn were able to get the men to voluntarily surrender about noon.

Alamshaw said authorities recovered body armor, a shotgun with a pistol grip, a semiautomatic gun, and handgun ammunition from the vehicle believed to be the robbers' second getaway car, found parked outside the complex.

Police temporarily shut down the Charleston off-ramp from southbound U.S. 95 and detoured traffic away from the Honolulu intersection for about an hour.

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