Pictured: The moment two girls aged 12 and 14 calmly hold up a U.S. bank



Staff at a U.S. bank were amazed when two young girls claimed to have a handgun and demanded cash.

The youngsters, who are thought to be about 12 and 14-years-old respectively, walked into the First National Bank in a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio, on Tuesday afternoon.

Police said the older girl handed a clerk a note that told her to fill a bag with money. Her partner-in-crime stayed by the door just out of range of CCTV.



The robbers didn't brandish weapons or make verbal threats, and no one was injured, said Hamilton County Sheriff's Office spokesman Steve Barnett.

Robbery: Two girls, one believed to be just 12 years old, walked into a bank in Ohio, U.S. and demanded cash claiming they had a gun

Search: CCTV footage shows the older girl walking out of the bank before fleeing across the car park

Detectives said the clerk handed over an undisclosed amount, including bait dollar bills which can be tracked.

The girls fled across a car park and even managed to evade police dog teams and a search helicopter.

One employee was inside the bank at the time of the robbery , but there were no other customers.

FBI spokesman Michael Brooks said he could not recall a bank robbery that involved a minor - let alone two girls - during his five years in Cincinnati.

In 2008, almost 18,000 males younger than 18 were arrested for all types of robbery across the United State, FBI crime statistics show.



About 1,900 females younger than 18 were arrested - a 38 per cent increase from 1999.



The first girl is described as around 12 years old, between 5ft and 5ft 2in, of thin build, and was wearing blue jeans, a dark blue hooded sweatshirt and a baseball cap.

The second girl was between 14 and 15 years old, 5ft 4in, of heavy build and was wearing blue jeans, a black knit cap and a dark blue hooded sweatshirt with the hood up.