The hustle and bustle at Russell Speeder’s Car Wash near 120th and Dodge couldn’t stop some alleged robbers Thursday morning.
“I saw the cop cars here when I pulled up and I wondered what had happened and I just thought that they were getting their cars washed. But, this is some scary stuff” said customer Sydnee Barker.
Omaha Police say after a man got his SUV washed at Russell Speeder’s around 10 a.m., he drove to a vacant lot next door to hand dry it. Sergeant Steve Fornoff says that’s when three men wearing hooded sweatshirts and bandanas approached the man and robbed him at gunpoint.
“All they said was give me your money and your jewelry and that was it. They told him to turn around and they got back in the car and they fled the area,” said Sgt. Fornoff with OPD’s robbery unit.
Fornoff says he rarely sees robberies like this one. The suspects in this case are extremely bold.
“Right now we are concerned over the time of day it happened and the location as well,” said Sgt. Fornoff.
Russell Speeder’s Manager Paul Ford says he can’t remember anything like this happening near his busy car wash.
“It makes me feel sick. I just can't believe somebody in the middle of the daylight would do something like that to a gentleman,” said Manager Paul Ford.
Car wash customers were also in disbelief.
“It shows a little bit about their character. I mean it is really dangerous to do that in the daylight,” said Barker.
Omaha Police say they are working extremely hard to track down the suspects so something like this can't happen again. Thursday’s armed robbery is a lesson that crime can happen anytime, anywhere.
“It's kind of an eye opener , you have to be concerned with stuff like that,” said Barker.
Police say they are looking for a four-door, large-bodied gold vehicle. They ask the public to please call with any information regarding the crime.
