Woman calls out armed ATM robber, walks away unharmed
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) — A New Mexico woman who says she was nearly robbed at gunpoint says she was able to walk away unharmed because she was aware of her surroundings.
Jerri Pohl says what should have been a simple trip to an Albuquerque ATM Tuesday morning ended with a robber sticking a gun in her face.
Pohl says she managed to get away unscathed because she called her would be robber out, noticing him before he got the drop on her.
“I’m really sick of thugs,” said Pohl of Tuesday morning’s incident. “I’m not going to just easily give up the things that I’ve worked so hard for.”
Pohl says the attempted robbery happened to her before 8 a.m. at the corner of Candelaria and Wyoming. She had stopped at the busy ATM on the corner to get some cash for a coffee.
“Got a few bucks back, put them in my wallet and as I’m doing this, I’m waiting for my receipt, I see a car pull up behind me,” said Pohl.
That’s when she says she noticed the driver wasn’t parking like everyone else.
“My second thought was… ‘unless he’s here to rob us,’ and as I turned around, this guy gets out and he’s got a hoodie on and sunglasses and he’s got a gun in his hand,” said Pohl.
Pohl says that awareness prepared her to call out the robber with the gun before he could get comfortable with holding her up.
“And a few expletives came out of my mouth and it shocked him because he hadn’t said anything to me yet and I just started to back away,” said Pohl.
She says the robber turned his gun on a guy next to her using another ATM. Pohl says her first instinct was to get video of the robber. She pulled out her cell phone and started recording.
“I’m not about to just easily give up,” said Pohl.
She ended the video recording by calling Albuquerque Police.
At a nearby hair salon, hairdresser Loretta Steele saw the end of the incident that Pohl described.
“And he jumped in his car and sped off,” said Steele of a man she saw wearing a hoodie and sunglasses.
Steele says she alerted the nearby shops to the suspicious behavior but didn’t know at the time that someone had been robbed.
“It’s just important to be careful and on the lookout all the time,” said Steele.
Jerri Pohl feels the same way.
“You need to be aware of your surroundings and see when people can come in, so that you can prepare and cover yourself,” said Pohl.
Pohl says she followed the car the robber was driving for some time while on the phone with 911 dispatchers and was able to get the car’s license plate. She says she lost the driver has he took off near Comanche and Las Lomitas.
As of Tuesday night, Pohl said she had yet to get a call back from the Albuquerque Police Department to report the incident. KRQE News 13 attempted to contact APD about the incident but did not get a response Tuesday evening.