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San Diego

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Costumed bank employees in Rancho Bernardo were taken by surprise when a masked man turned out to be a robber and not someone dressed for Halloween, police said Wednesday.

A number of bank employees wore costumes Wednesday morning to mark Halloween, and a masked bandit raised no eyebrows when he ran into the Great Western Bank in the 16000 block of Bernardo Center Drive, San Diego Police spokesman Bill Robinson said.

When the man, dressed in a gray sweat suit and gray ski mask, asked a teller for money, she replied: “You’re kidding, right?”

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Tellers, however, quickly realized he was a real robber when he waved a blue-steel semi-automatic pistol. “She (the teller) saw the pistol and knew he meant business,” Robinson said.

The robber ordered the three customers in the bank to lie on the floor. Then he told two tellers to fill a backpack with money. He left the bank in less than two minutes, carrying $3,200, Robinson said.

“Halloween came a little early to Great Western Bank,” Robinson said.

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