Police Search For Suspect In Two Bank Heists
By Law Office of Bruce C. Bridgman
Oct. 1, 2012 11:30a
Unusual Methodology In Robberies Has Police Suspecting Link
After a second bank in Orange County was robbed by a baseball-cap wearing man who threatened employees with what he claimed was an explosive, authorities suspect the crimes were the work of a single man. Local law enforcement officials say they are still investigating possible leads into the identity of the man, with the help of the FBI.
According to the initial case reports, the first target was a US Bank in Seal Beach. A man wearing a long sleeved shirt and a baseball cap walked into the financial institution at approximately 3:40 in the afternoon, a spokesperson with the Seal Beach Police Department said, and began to brandish a firearm. He told employees and bystanders that he was carrying a pipe bomb, a kind of homemade explosive device, and set the alleged object on a table.
After forcing an employee to open the safe, he left the bank with an unrevealed sum of money and was seen leaving the parking lot on foot. Officials with the Seal Beach PD said they did not find any explosives at the scene of the crime.
Second Incident Spurs Fear Of Spree
While investigators looked into the crime, they were unable to turn up any leads as to the identity of the robber. A second robbery, this time at a Chase Bank on Valley View Street in Garden Grove, bears enough similarities to the first that authorities believe it to be the same criminal.
On September 22nd, a similarly dressed man entered the bank and showed an object that he claimed was a pipe bomb to a teller at the bank, demanding that the employee open the safe or he would detonate the device. He was let into the safe, and fled with the contents, but not before warning occupants of the bank that he had left his pipe bomb somewhere in the building. When a bomb squad arrived at the scene, however, they did not find any explosives.
Investigators in Orange County say they are working closely with the FBI to catch the suspect. If this was the work of one man, a spokesperson said, he could attempt to strike again. A tip hotline has been set up, and police say they welcome any information that could lead to the man's capture.
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