Two men robbed the BBVA Compass Bank in downtown Manteca Monday morning in what was described as a brief “takeover” of the 201 North Main Street branch.   

Manteca Police said the men ordered the seven-member staff over against a wall as one with a semi-automatic hand gun jumped the counter and held his weapon against the head of a male teller.

A woman reportedly had a necklace pulled from her neck.

As the pair, minutes later, fled the back door of the bank, witnesses reported seeing a red mist coming from the backpack and trailing behind them as they headed north in the alley.  A red-dye pack had been hidden with the money by the bank – a standard procedure.

Witnesses who had seen the pair run from the bank hailed down a police officer on Center Street who had received the bank robbery call on her radio at about the same moment.  The two black men were described as between their late 20s and mid 30s and standing between 5-foot-10 and 6-foot-2.

They were both said to be wearing long, curly wigs and wearing sunglasses.  The man with the gun wore a black and red Pendleton long-sleeved shirt.  The second robber wore a black and white Pendleton shirt.  Police said the wigs were mostly covering their faces during the robbery. 

Another witness in the alley added that the men had run between a two-story apartment building and a home in mid-block and had run west toward Maple Avenue where they disappeared.  Police went door-to-door asking if anyone had seen the two fleeing through the walkway or getting into a vehicle.

A black motorist was seen shortly after the robbery on Lathrop Road near I-5 where he had thrown red-stained bills out of a white extended cab pickup truck.  Police could not confirm how much of the stolen money had been recovered on the side of the road before the noon hour.

A police chaplain was called to the bank to counsel a female teller who had been terrorized in the incident.  There was only one customer in the bank at the time of the robbery, police said.  The bank remained closed for most of the day Monday.