Wells Fargo museum robbers held guard at gunpoint

A security guard at the Wells Fargo History Museum in San Francisco’s Financial District was held at gunpoint early this morning by three suspects who rammed a stolen SUV into the museum entrance and then stole historical gold nuggets before fleeing in a silver sedan, police said.

The smash-and-grab robbery was reported shortly before 2:30 a.m. at 420 Montgomery St., between California and Sacramento streets, according to San Francisco police spokeswoman Officer Grace Gatpandan. The museum is located inside Wells Fargo’s world headquarters building.

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A security guard heard a noise and saw that an SUV had crashed into the museum’s revolving glass doors, Gatpandan said. Three suspects then got out of the vehicle, all with their faces covered. One suspect was armed with a handgun, according to Gatpandan.

The suspects held the security guard at gunpoint and took gold nuggets from a display case inside the museum, she said. All three suspects then got into a silver four-door sedan and fled the scene following the robbery. Police have determined that the SUV the suspects drove into the building was stolen, Gatpandan said.

No arrests have been made in connection with the robbery.

Wells Fargo spokesman Ruben Pulido said the company is grateful that no one was hurt during the robbery. Pulido also said the company is grateful that the museum’s historic stagecoaches were not damaged in the heist.

According to the museum’s website, the stagecoaches on display in the museum were used by the company in the 1860s, shortly after the company was founded in 1852 as a banking and mail delivery service for merchants and miners who came west during the gold rush.

Pulido said the robbers made off with gold nuggets and possibly other property. The museum had a collection of gold nuggets from across the West, with some coming from the Calaveras River and the Mariposa River, among other locales.