Police in Sandy Springs are searching for a man who they say robbed another man at gunpoint in front of his son and girlfriend while he was using an ATM on June 30.
The victim, Pablo Penaloza, 18 of Sandy Springs, told Channel 2 Action News that he went to the PNC Bank ATM on Roswell Road around 10 p.m. that night to deposit money for his son's upcoming birthday party.
According to the police report, Penaloza deposited $300 into the ATM. The suspect appeared near the driver’s side door as Penaloza was finishing his transaction. Penaloza told police he thought the suspect was joking when he calmly stated, “give me all your money.”
Then he saw the suspect was holding a gun.
“Once I saw the gun, I got a little rush. I didn’t know what to think,” Penaloza told Channel 2. “I tried to give him everything I had. I didn’t care about the money, I was just worried about my son and girlfriend.”
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According to the police report, Penaloza withdrew $350 from the ATM – because he thought that was the maximum amount he could withdraw, he told police – handed it to the suspect and sped off. Penaloza dropped his son and girlfriend off at home and then returned to the scene with his parents.
Penaloza told police his girlfriend didn’t get a good look at the suspect and that his son “never realized his dad was being robbed” because he was playing a game on a phone.
The suspect is described as a black man in his mid-20s, about 6-foot tall and 180 pounds with medium build. He was seen with a full beard, a gray shirt and a snap-back hat.
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