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A masked man forced his way into a Jersey City bank Wednesday morning and tried to rob a safe, police said. (Journal file photo)

(Journal file photo)

A masked robber forced his way into a Jersey City bank Wednesday morning, but came away empty handed when an employee chased him out of the business, police said.

Shortly after 9 a.m., an employee of the Liberty Savings Federal Credit Union on Kennedy Boulevard in the Greenville section of Jersey City was unlocking the door to the business, which opens at 10 a.m. The masked man approached the woman, pushed her inside and ushered her and a supervisor into a back office, according to a police report.

The robber yelled that he knew one of the women had the key to a safe and then began banging on the safe with his fist, demanding someone open it, police said.

That's when another employee, who was vacuuming in another room, noticed the commotion and chased the robber out of the bank, according to police.

He pursued the bandit north on Kennedy Boulevard and lost sight of him as the man ran east on Neptune Avenue, the report states.

While chasing the intruder, the employee said the man dropped a large duffel bag in a nearby parking lot, which he retrieved and brought back to the bank, police said.

Police responded to the bank on the call of a panic alarm and were told by witnesses that the robber was approximately 5-foot-6, wearing a "possible black mask," a white hooded sweatshirt and black pants. Officers searching the area later found a white hooded sweatshirt, a black scarf and multicolored flannel pants in a Neptune Avenue alley, according to the report.

No weapon was shown during the robbery, police said.