Ocean City police officers responded in force to a call from a Bank of America customer who feared that the branch on 34th Street was being robbed Friday afternoon.
However, it turned out to be a false alarm caused when the bank unexpectedly closed down after experiencing telephone and computer problems, police Capt. Steven Ang said.
A customer became suspicious and called police after finding the bank's drive-in windows closed and the lobby doors locked in the middle of the afternoon, Ang said.
"We responded to it like a serious incident or something serious was going on inside the bank like a robbery," he said.
Police arrived at the scene at 3:06 p.m. with their weapons drawn. Officers blocked off a portion of 34th Street and told people at neighboring businesses to remain inside while they were trying to determine whether a robbery was taking place, according to Ang.
The incident was defused about 30 minutes later when the bank manager, who was inside the building, came out and assured police that everything was all right, Ang said.
The manager told police that the bank shut down after having phone and computer difficulties. Confusion was caused because the branch didn’t notify Bank of America's corporate headquarters that it was closing, Ang said.
"I'm sure they have protocol they didn’t follow," he said.
Before arriving at the scene, police contacted Bank of America's corporate security and the bank's branch in Rio Grande, but were unable to find out anything about the 34th Street location, Ang noted.
Two corporate representatives for Bank of America said Friday night they did not have any information about the incident.
