2 in fake beards sought in shooting, robbery

QUINCY -- An armored car driver making a routine cash delivery to a bank yesterday ran into something unexpected, a robber wearing a Johnny Damon-style fake black beard and wielding a rifle.

A struggle turned into a shootout. The guard suffered serious wounds to his left leg and injuries to his hand. And two robbers got away with a bag of money and the guard's gun in what was the first armored car robbery in Quincy in decades, police said.

The 53-year-old guard, who had not been identified by late yesterday, was rushed to Boston City Medical Center, where he was listed in stable condition yesterday afternoon, said Quincy Police Chief Robert F. Crowley.

Crowley said police were called to the Citizens Bank branch on Hancock Street in North Quincy about 10:10 a.m. to investigate reports of shots fired.

Arriving officers found the guard from the Loomis, Fargo & Co. armored car lying on the ground between the vehicle and the bank building. Crowley said a nurse from Sacred Heart Elementary School, across the street, rushed over and provided first aid to the wounded guard.

So did Christopher R. Jordan, who stopped at a convenience store, heard three or four shots, and rushed to the scene. ''All I saw was a guy dying on the ground," said the former Quincy resident, who now lives in Maine. He said he first alerted the staff inside the Citizens Bank about the shooting and then applied pressure to the guard's bleeding hand and leg.

Both the elementary school and nearby North Quincy High School were locked down for a few hours while police searched for the suspects, Crowley said.

The police chief said the guard had unloaded some money and was walking into the bank when he was confronted by the thief wearing a fake beard. One law enforcement official described the disguise as a ''Johnny Damon kind of beard," referring to the Boston Red Sox center fielder.

The armed robber and guard struggled, and the guard fired once toward the thief, who then fired twice from his rifle, striking the guard in the upper left leg and hand, Crowley said.

The thief then apparently lifted the keys to the rear door of the armored car from the wounded guard, went to the back of the vehicle, unlocked the door, and grabbed one bag containing an undetermined amount of money.

Authorities also said the thief stole the guard's .40-caliber handgun. Following company policy, the armored car's driver stayed inside the vehicle during the attack and was unharmed.

The thief jumped into a waiting car whose driver also wore a fake black beard, and the two sped off, driving north on Hancock Street and then turning left onto West Squantum Street and into the parking lot of a large apartment building. There they abandoned the late-model Oldsmobile sedan, which police said was stolen in Medford. The men escaped in a second vehicle, police said.

Crowley said a retired Quincy police officer happened to be in the area, spotted the fleeing car, and noted the license plate.

Crowley said yesterday the search for the suspects was continuing. He also declined to identify the guard until his family is notified. Calls to Loomis, Fargo offices in Attleboro and Houston, Texas, were not immediately returned.

Crowley said they were going to reinterview the guard when medically possible and also interview the armored car driver.

''It was obviously planned," Crowley said. ''They had [the armored car's schedule], and they had disguises."

John Ellement can be reached at ellement@globe.com.