A 50-year-old woman was robbed of about $25,000 in broad daylight as she walked to the bank with a restaurant’s takings.The waitress was dragged to the floor by a man wearing a bike helmet as she struggled to keep hold of the duffel bag crammed full of notes.The robbery happened at about 11.45am on Wednesday when she was just steps away from depositing the money at Butterfield Bank on Reid Street.The woman screamed “at the top of her lungs” to raise the alarm and several passers-by tried to intervene. But the robber got away with the cash after jumping onto a waiting bike, which sped off through the traffic.It is understood to have been a targeted attack, as the woman was carrying five days’ takings. The restaurant would usually deposit its takings every one or two days.The Hamilton restaurant, which does not want to be named, is refusing to take any more chances and has now vowed to start using a security company.The restaurant’s general manager said: “She was right outside the bank, about to turn to walk up the steps. The guy just came from nowhere, he jumped off a bike and ran towards her.“The bag was ripped from her shoulder and she was dragged along as she tried to hold on to it.“She screamed at the top of her lungs and people tried to help. One man dived in front of the bike, while a white SUV tried to run them off the road.“It was broad daylight, it was nearly lunchtime, but still this happened.”Two men on a bike are said to have pulled up outside the bank. They stopped the bike in the nearside lane, next to a parked row of cars.The rider remained on the bike while the pillion passenger ran straight up to the woman and ripped the white duffel bag from her shoulder. Both men were wearing dark clothing and helmets with dark visors.A passer-by jumped into the road in front of the bike and a passing motorist tried to swerve in front of the bike to block it in.But the two men on the bike managed to escape by dodging in and out of vehicles. They continued along Reid Street before turning into Queen Street.The restaurant’s general manager said the robbery was not caught on nearby CCTV cameras and no one managed to see the bike’s registration plate.She said: “We still don’t understand how this could have happened, it’s absolutely crazy.“It’s completely out of order, we’ve lost five days of takings.“It’s so frustrating, there can’t be a worse time to lose money. With the economy the way it is, we’ve had such a hard 18 months.“But anyone would have done the same thing. We would have all let go of the bag rather than getting dragged down the road.”The restaurant employee was “severely shaken up” but she was not injured and did not need hospital treatment. She immediately returned to work after the robbery.She is said to be feeling “very guilty” about what happened but managers have reassured her that she isn’t to blame.Restaurant bosses believe it was a targeted rather than an opportunist attack and they are looking at the possibility that it’s “an inside job”.There is said to be “no pattern to follow” as different members of staff took the money to the bank at different times of the day, sometimes on foot and sometimes in vehicles.The only reason five days of takings had built up was because of the holiday weekend and the manager being off sick on Tuesday. Wednesday was the first available day an employee could be sent to the bank.A driver of an SUV was driving along Reid Street when he was alerted to the robbery by the woman’s screams.The 27-year-old Pembroke man said: “My gut reaction was to do something to stop the bike. I tried to swerve to block it in, but the woman ended up in the road and I didn’t want to hurt her.“I tried to give chase, but the bike just nipped in and out of cars and I lost it. It was all over in seconds, it happened so quickly.”A spokesman for the Bermuda Police Service said they had launched an investigation and they wanted to thank the public for their assistance.He said: “It appears that the victim, a 50-year-old Warwick woman, was walking along Reid Street when an unknown man grabbed the white duffel bag she was carrying and ran off.“Despite the efforts of at least one member of the public in the area, the thief made good his escape with the bag as the pillion passenger of a waiting motorcycle.“The victim was not injured. The duffel bag contained a quantity of cash and personal items.”The main suspect, the pillion passenger, is a 6ft young, black man of slim build, wearing a white helmet with a dark-coloured visor and black clothing.The motorcycle rider was a young, black man, wearing black clothing and riding a dark-coloured motorcycle.Police are appealing for any witnesses or anyone with any information to contact the Hamilton Criminal Investigation Unit on 295-0011.