Nationwide Net Cast In CUHeist

PEARL RIVER, N.Y. - (05/23/05) -- Police put out an all-pointsbulletin across the country to see if any robberies were committedlike the one here last Wednesday when armed assailants dressed inlaboratory coats and surgical masks accosted employees at PalisadesFCU as they arrived to work, then emptied the vault of $219,000 incash. The heist followed by just hours the delivery of cash to thecredit union the previous night, so detectives were looking closelyat the timing of the hold-up. The robbers' disguises are similar togear wore by workers at nearby Wyeth Laboratories, who frequent thecredit union, police said. The thieves bound 10 credit unionemployees with plastic wrist restraints, like the kind used bypolice, while forcing one of them at gunpoint to open thevault.