Robber escapes
with $3,000

WEST LONG BRANCH — A man armed with a handgun held up the Atlantic Federal Credit Union on Route 36 Tuesday and escaped with $3,000, authorities said.

First Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor Robert A. Honecker Jr. said the robber passed a note to a woman teller that said, "Put money in the bag and nobody will get hurt. If you push any buttons, somebody will get hurt."

Honecker said the teller put $3,000 in a bag. The teller reported seeing a handgun.

The robbery suspect, described as a light-skinned black male wearing a blue jogging suit, fled the bank in a late model, black Ford Bronco, Honecker said.

He said the robbery occurred around 5 p.m.

Honecker said authorities don’t believe the man was connected to another recent bank robbery in the borough.

The FBI is also investigating the case.

— Sherry Conohan