The Palisades branch of Bank of America suffered its second robbery in six days last Thursday evening when a white male jumped over the counter, attached what he claimed was an explosive device to one teller, and collected money from several tellers before fleeing the scene. The robbery in the Business Block building occurred at about 5:40 p.m. and caused complete closure of Sunset from Monument to Via de la Paz. Rush-hour traffic had to be rerouted until the LAPD Bomb Squad rendered the bank safe at about 9:30 p.m. The suspect (described as 5’11” to 6’1”, 150 to 180 lbs., 28 to 32 years of age) entered the bank, announced it was a robbery as he was going over the counter and then demanded money, according to LAPD Detective Dan Jaranillo. The suspect carried a canvas bag and wore a white mask over the bottom part of his face that Jaranillo said was believed to be ‘a kind of painter’s type mask, like a surgical cup.’ According to FBI spokesperson Laura Eimiller, the suspect had a slender build, a light complexion and very short light brown hair. He was also wearing yellow-tinted sunglasses. ‘During the course of the robbery, he handcuffed what he said was an explosive device to one of the tellers,’ Eimiller said. ‘He wanted the $50s and $100s, and threatened that the device was, in fact, a bomb and that it would go off and the teller would be hurt if the money was not given to him.’ The suspect collected currency from several tellers and fled with an undisclosed amount of cash. Eimiller said that the suspect exited through the back door and turned to the left, down the alley towards Antioch. According to the police report, when the suspect fled the building, he left the possible explosive device attached to the victim teller. Police soon removed the device and she was freed uninjured at about 6:40 p.m. Meanwhile, the area was evacuated before the LAPD Bomb Squad responded. This caused the evacuation and closure of most of the Palisades village businesses and streets for several hours. ‘The Bomb Squad determined it was not an explosive device,’ said Jaranillo, who arrived at the scene between 6:30 and 7 p.m. ‘No one was physically hurt.’ Jaranillo said the robbery does not appear to be related to the Saturday, March 19 daytime bank robbery at the same Bank of America. ‘It has not been connected yet with any in the area. As far as we know there’s nothing with a similar type of device.’ However, he added that the LAPD is working with the FBI to investigate these crimes further. Eimiller confirmed that both recent Bank of America robberies in the Palisades are still being investigated and no arrests have yet been made. ‘Both suspects are still fugitives,’ she said. ‘We have not ruled out that [the suspect in last Thursday’s bank robbery] may be responsible for other robberies in the L.A. area but it’s still under investigation.’ Prior to the two Palisades B of A robberies, California National Bank at Sunset and Swarthmore was robbed January 10. The suspect in that crime was described as a white male, 6′ tall, 160 lbs., 30 to 35 years, wearing a dark baseball cap, dark sunglasses, white T-shirt, blue shorts, black gloves and a fanny pack. In the last two years here, First Federal, Citibank, Wells Fargo, Washington Mutual and U.S. Bank have all been robbed at least once. Following two robberies in mid-2003, Wells Fargo on Swarthmore installed bulletproof glass fronts on teller windows to protect the employees. Whether the Bank of America will take similar safety measures is unclear at this time. Bank manager Zara Guivi was not available for comment and the corporate office referred all questions to the LAPD. However, since the robbery, a security guard has been posted outside the front door of the bank and the back entry has been closed off. ‘These [bank robberies] are not just happening in the Palisades,’ Senior Lead Officer Chris Ragsdale said at last Thursday’s Community Council meeting. ‘There was a takeover robbery at the [Brentwood] Bank of America on 26th St. [just south of San Vicente] three weeks ago. Westwood and Culver City are all subject to this.’ Two U.S. Banks’one at 33rd and Pico and one in Boyle Heights’were robbed Monday, according to Bob Grundstrom, manager of the U.S. Bank in Malibu. He told the Palisadian-Post Tuesday that his bank’s ‘internal security group’ had issued a warning on Monday, March 21, to all of its West L.A. branches to be on high alert last week. The warning was ‘due to the fact that there were a number of instances [bank robberies] in the last few days prior to Thursday [March 24],’ he said, including the March 19 Palisades Bank of America robbery. Grundstrom added that they are still on high alert.
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