3 robbery subjects in custody after Fla. police chase

NORTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, Fla. (WHDH) -- Authorities have arrested three subjects who, police said, robbed a bank and led them on a chase through two counties.

The pursuit started in Coral Springs on Interstate 75 and came to an end with a crash in Northwest Miami-Dade County on the Gratigny Parkway, near Northwest 32nd Avenue. The driver they rear-ended said everything happened real quickly. "All I remember is the semi-truck stopping in front of me, and I stopped, and all of a sudden I got hit from the back," said Derek Mendez. "Then, I saw some guys getting out of the car, getting chased."

The three subjects then bailed from the car and were quickly taken into custody by police officers. One subject was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital with minor injuries.

According to Coral Springs Police, the three men robbed the Sun Trust Bank on University Drive and Wiles Road in Coral Springs, Wednesday morning. Bank surveillance cameras captured two of the subjects, wearing sunglasses and hats, as they robbed the bank. The other subject waited outside in the getaway car.

Coral Springs Police Chief Tony Pustizzi said a fast acting bank manager, witnesses and police officers helped take down these subjects. "As they exited the bank, they also robbed another patron coming out of the bank," said Pustizzi. "They left the bank as the same time we were getting a call from inside the bank. There happened to be a customer on the phone with the branch manager at the time that the bank was being robbed. They contacted us, so we already had officers in route when the silent alarm came out."

Just down the street from the bank was a UPS truck driver who saw the men and realized something was wrong when the bank robbers jumped out of one car, abandoned it and jumped into another car, which led police on the chase.

The FBI believe these three men may be behind as many as five other bank robberies in Broward County. They are investigating.

Officials are urging drivers to avoid Northwest 27th Avenue and Northwest 32nd Avenue on the Gratigny Parkway as traffic is backed up.