Alleged bank robbers caught in Oakdale lumber yard

A police chase of two alleged bank robbers ended inside the lumber yard of an Oakdale store this afternoon.

The incident started around 2:30 p.m. when the Maplewood Police Department received a call alerting them to a bank robbery at the TCF Bank near the Maplewood Mall.

The caller told police she saw two men rob the bank and watched them flee in a vehicle.

A police officer searching the area noticed that a passenger in a nearby car was changing his clothes, "which he thought was a bit suspicious," said Deputy Chief Dave Kvam of the Maplewood Police Department.

A police chase ensued, ending at the Mills Fleet Farm in Oakdale. Kvam said the two suspects jumped out of the car and ran into the store's lumber yard.

Officers quickly caught one of the suspects, but officials had to use a State Patrol helicopter with heat imaging technology to find the other man. Kvam said the man was hiding in between wood pallets in the yard.

Both suspects have been taken into custody pending charges. Kvam said no one was injured during the incident.