Robbers move on when bank door won't open

ZEPHYRHILLS -- Authorities continued searching late Monday for the two men who tried to rob SunTrust Bank, 34511 State Road 54, shortly before 10 a.m.

Witnesses said the men parallel parked a dark blue Saturn in front of the bank.

The driver, a black man in his early 20s with dreadlocks, wore a bandanna over his face and initially stayed in the car, reports stated.

The passenger, also a black man in his 20s, wore black clothing from head to toe and a mask. He got out of the car carrying a handgun and approached the bank, deputies said.

The bank is equipped with magnetic locking doors, meaning that an employee must let each person in. When no one would let in the would-be robber, he banged on the door several times with the butt of the handgun.

Sheriff's spokesman Jon Powers said the driver then got out of the car momentarily before both men got back in the car and sped away.

Deputies later found the car about a mile away. It had been abandoned off Eiland Boulevard in a patch of woods in the Lake Bernadette community. A license plate check revealed that the car had been stolen over the weekend in Leesburg.

Powers said the men were seen leaving Lake Bernadette in a white car.

Sheriff's deputies on Monday were scouring the car for any fingerprints or other clues that might lead them to the pair.

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