Hyattsville suspect identified in Takoma Park bank robbery
Man was fatally shot by police after taking hostages at gunpoint
Carlos Rudolfo Espinoza Arcia, 43, entered a Capital One Bank at 1181 University Boulevard East at about 9:22 a.m. armed with a 9mm handgun and demanded cash, according to Lucille Baur, Montgomery County police public information officer.
Espinoza Arcia, of the 5400 block of Sargent Road near Hyattsville in Prince George's County, also had two fake explosive devices, she said. A customer allegedly attempted to wrestle the gun from him, and was pistol-whipped by Espinoza Arcia. A bank employee was able to place a dye pack in with the cash.
Police officers from Takoma Park, Montgomery County and Prince George's County responded to the scene, and Espinoza Arcia exited the bank using a female employee as a shield, police said. The employee was able to escape after Espinoza Arcia slipped on ice in the parking lot. When he continued to point his gun at her and refused police demands to drop his weapon, six officers opened fire on him, Baur said.
Espinoza Arcia was pronounced dead at the scene. The hostage received a scrape on her arm and a Prince George's County officer was grazed in the leg by a ricocheting bullet, but no one else was injured by the gunfire. Both were treated and released. The customer who was pistol-whipped remained hospitalized as of Sunday, Baur said.
dleaderman@gazette.net

