Three men sought in $400,000 bank heist

TEMPE, Ariz., Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Three men escaped with $400,000 after holding two families hostage and robbing a Tempe, Ariz., bank, The Arizona Republic reported Monday.

The incident appeared patterned after "Bandits," a 2001 movie in which two men kidnap bank managers, spend the night with their families and then go to the bank the next day to collect the money, police told the Republic.

The robbery of a Wells Fargo Bank in Tempe occurred after the suspects held the bank manager hostage at home overnight Thursday before they all went to the bank before it opened Friday to take $400,000, police said.

In a separate incident Wednesday, the same thieves held the manager of the Desert Schools Federal Credit Union and the manager's family hostage in their home before deciding to scrub a robbery at the credit union, the Republic reported.

None of the hostages was physically injured but all, including a child, were severely traumatized, police said.

A $50,000 reward is being offered for arrests in the crimes, which FBI agents call "particularly extraordinary," the Republic said.