Cops: Thieves Hit Car With Officer Inside

— -- Gun Misfires, Robber Hit By Van During Heist

M I A M I — It's hard to keep a bad bank robber down.

The attempted holdup at the Wachovia Bank in North Miami Beach started smoothly enough on Monday, when a man in a black T-shirt and blue sweat pants walked in and demanded cash from a teller.

But then the robber's hand gun accidentally went off after he grabbed the cash.

"As he was running out of the bank he went to put the gun back in his pocket and it discharged," said Judy Orihuela, the spokeswoman for the FBI's Miami office.

Witnesses told police he was as startled as they were at the gunshot. It was unclear if he was injured.

After the shot, the robber ran out in the street, where he was struck by a passing van. The vehicle's driver hopped out to help the robber, not knowing he had just held up the bank.

Once he was pulled from underneath the van, the robber limped off to a waiting getaway car. The red Mitsubishi sped off, but apparently the robber isn't in the clear yet. "We recovered two gold teeth from when he was hit by the van," Orihuela said.

"We'll be able to get DNA from that."

Authorities are checking local hospitals in case the robber seeks medical attention.

"Witness said he was pretty banged up," Orihuela said. "We believe he should seek medical attention."

Police Let the Thieves Come to Them

C H I C A G O — If this van's eavesdroppin', don't come a-knockin'.

Two alleged thieves were unpleasantly surprised when they broke into a police surveillance van with an officer inside waiting for them, authorities say. Officer Jessie Watts Jr. was assigned to stake out the commuter parking lot in a South Shore Railroad station in Chicago after several reports of stereos and personal items being stolen from cars parked there.

His job got a lot easier last Wednesday when he saw two men get out of their car and start to case the vehicles, said Robert Byrd, police chief for the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, which operates the South Shore Railroad.