Police were looking for two suspects Tuesday believed to have held up an instructor and six adult students at a Gaithersburg driving school that caters to immigrants.
Two men, posing as students, entered the American Driving School, at 431 North Frederick Ave. in Gaithersburg, displayed a handgun and demanded cash, according to police reports.
They robbed an instructor and six students of cash and personal property before fleeing the school, said Paul Kaaawane, owner of the school. No one was hurt in the incident, and police would not disclose how much cash was taken.
Montgomery police spokeswoman Lucille Baur said police officers think this was intended to be a commercial robbery, with the target being the business itself rather than the students.
“We believe once they found out they couldn’t take money from the business, they robbed the students,” Baur said.
Washington-area police officers have reported that immigrants are increasingly becoming the target of crime in the region, noting disturbing trends in which criminals are believed to attack Hispanic residents on the belief they are less likely to have bank accounts and more likely to be carrying cash on their person.
Officials with FIDMi, a nonprofit group trying to educate Hispanic immigrants about the U.S. financial system, estimate that about 50 percent of Hispanics living in the Washington area are “unbanked.”
Kaaawane said he teaches classes to help people learn the rulesof driving in the United States. Most of the students in the classroom were immigrants, according to Kaaawane; several were from Mexico and other Latin American countries, and at least one was from the Philippines.
Both suspects were described as males, 20 to 21 years of age, 5-feet-6 to 6 feet tall, with thin builds and black jackets. One suspect had dreadlocks.
