Woman forced by gunman to drive to Guilderland bank

A 22-year-old Albany woman was robbed at gunpoint last week outside her Manning Boulevard home then forced by the man to drive to the Bank of America in Guilderland to withdraw money, police say.

She was later able to jump out of her car when she stopped at a stoplight at the intersection of Western Avenue and Quail Street, and was not physically injured, police say.

It was about 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 11 when the woman was approached by a 6-foot tall black man, wearing a black sweatshirt and an earring, Albany Police said in a press release. Police told the story this way:

The man asked her for directions and, as she answered him, he pulled out a black handgun and demanded money. When she told him she didn’t have any, he forced her at gunpoint into her nearby car and made her drive to the Bank of America at 1450 Western Ave. and withdraw money from the automated teller machine there.

She gave him the money but he said it wasn’t enough so he demanded that she drive to another bank. As she drove down Western Avenue, she stopped at the intersection with Quail Street and jumped out of her car, running to a group of people standing on the sidewalk.

The man jumped out of her car, too, and ran south on Quail Street. Police, when they arrived at the scene, used a dog to track the man’s trail in the area of Jay and Quail streets; the trail came to an end in the back of the 250 block of Western Avenue.

Police found a black handgun on the ground near the intersection of Jay and Quail streets.