BRECKSVILLE, Ohio — As he gripped the steering wheel of his pick-up truck, one thought kept running through Kevin Pozek's mind.
"I'm like, 'no way is this happening,'" said Pozek.
The father of three was on what was supposed to be a quick run to the grocery store last summer.
But something about the car in front of him caught his attention.
"It's got no license plate, and it's like the middle of the day," said Pozek. "I see the guys get their hoods pulled up all the way over their faces. They've got sunglasses on, and I'm like, 'It's 95 degrees outside.'"
Suspicious, Pozek followed the black Toyota as it turned into the bank parking lot and watched as one of the men went inside the Dollar Bank in Brecksville.
"When they pulled up in front of the bank, my gut instinct said they're robbing this bank," said Pozek. "I was not going to be the guy who, like, jumps out and pointed a gun at people that are just going into the ATM."
As he dialed the police, that confirmation came. One of the men ran out of the bank with a bag of money in hand.
"It's so crazy to see the whole thing go down like that because you still don't think you would ever witness a bank robbery like that take place," said Pozek.
That's when Pozek said his training kicked in.
He wasn't just a witness. Pozek is a police officer with Broadview Heights.
For weeks, he followed law enforcement bulletins about similar heists involving bank robbers with similar descriptions.
That included a June 4 bank robbery in Broadview Heights in which Pozek was one of the responding officers.
Now, as that black sedan sped toward the highway, Pozek was able to give dispatchers turn-by-turn updates as he followed the suspected robbers.
Up ahead, police moved into position.
"I could go another 25 years in a career as a police officer and never even hear about that happening," said Pozek.
As the car sped north on Interstate 77, an Independence police officer was waiting.
But the driver wasn't giving up.
Dash camera video captured a wild 10-minute chase with speeds topping 100 mph as officers tried to catch the suspected robbers.
Finally, at the intersection of West 85th Street and Lorain Avenue on Cleveland's West Side, police watched as the getaway car slammed into another in the intersection.
Minutes later, the two men suspected in the bank robbery, Romelle Smith and Jivaughnte Johnson, were in handcuffs.
Prosecutors said the pair, along with another man named Thair Mapp, who was arrested months later, is responsible for nine different bank robberies between May 25 and July 11, 2022, spanning Cuyahoga and Summit Counties.
According to court records, all three men pleaded not guilty to the charges and are jailed while awaiting trial.
Pozek said it's "mind-blowing" to think he helped break the string of robberies.
A highlight of his career, he chalks up to one simple trip for groceries.
"It was just going to be dumb luck," said Pozek. "Like a cop was going to be going to the grocery store, off-duty and just happen to see them."
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