PASADENA, Texas -- An armored truck was stolen outside of a Pasadena grocery store Tuesday afternoon and a suspicious device was found, prompting an evacuation, KPRC Local 2 reported.

Police said two men approached the truck outside of the El Rancho store on Jackson Avenue near South Randall Street at about 12:15 p.m. and told the guard they had a bomb.

"One of the suspects said something to the effect that he had a bomb and that he would blow up the armored vehicle if the operator did not authorize his access into the vehicle," said Capt Bud Corbett with the Pasadena Police Department.

The guard was forced into the back of the truck and tied up, officials said.

Investigators said one of the robbers drove the armored truck while the other followed behind in another vehicle believed to be the getaway car.

The truck was found abandoned on Johnson Street near Broadway Avenue a short time later with the guard unharmed inside.

Police said several thousand dollars in cash was stolen.

The bomb squad was sent to the store where a suspicious device the size of a soda can was found, officials said.

"The device was actually not an explosive device, but actually was a hoax bomb and it was similar in appearance to a conduit box with a timing device of sort with wires," Corbett said.

Police evacuated a two-block radius while the bomb squad investigated. Two schools in the area were placed on lockdown during the incident.

No one was injured.

Both robbers escaped in a late-model white Chevrolet Impala.