NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A suspected serial robber in Nashville has a dangerous and scary MO: holding up cashiers with the threat of a homemade bomb. The man has been linked to two banks and one post office hold-up.
One of the cashiers who came face to face with the man on Thursday spoke out about the scary situation.
She said she knew immediately this wasn't one of her regular customers and that what he placed on her counter wasn't a normal package or letter. It was a suspicious device he claimed was a bomb.
"I was scared to death, it scared me to death," said the Woodland Street Post Office Employee who wanted to remain anonymous.
In the surveillance video, it shows the man walking into the East Nashville Post Office wearing a black T-shirt then you can see him pull the homemade bomb out of his pants.
"I wasn't sure what I was hearing and he told me he wasn't kidding, 'lay your money up on the counter this is a bomb,'" recalled the employee.
She described it like a surge protector, with a cell phone adaptor and several cords and said it resembled a bomb enough to scare her into the back room.
"When I saw it I was trying to envision how big of an explosion it would make," she said.
The man took off running with his bomb but without any cash. Investigators are trying to figure out why he hit up a government building in the first place.
"There is not a lot of money in a post office. Why someone would choose to rob a post office, I don't know. Maybe he's an amateur, maybe he just started his robbery career," said Tony Gooden, a postal investigator on the case.
Thast career that took him next to Bank of America on 16th Avenue South where he was spotted with the same homemade bomb. This time he got away with cash.
Robbing banks and Postal Offices come with federal charges and up to 20 years behind bars.
As for whether that device was real or fake, the employee didn't know and she's glad she didn't have to find out.
"I didn't know, I didn't know. It was scary," said the woman.
Metro Police confiscated that device after the man left it at Bank of America. They determined it was not in fact explosive. But it could still land him with two felony charges.
And they are hoping someone will recognize the robber and help turn him in. Any information that leads to an arrest could come with a $25,000 reward.
Metro police believe he is also linked to a recent bank robbery in Goodlettsville.
