Neighbors told to stay put as police comb area
By CAROLYN SACKARIASON AND JOHN WOOD Daily Press Staff Writers
MID-CITY — Police closed off four square blocks in the heart of Santa Monica Tuesday, searching nearly seven hours for a suspect who robbed a US Bank on Santa Monica Boulevard. He is still at large.
Santa Monica Police responded at 11:22 a.m. to a call that a bank robbery had just occurred. The bank’s security guard apparently chased the suspect, who exited the bank’s back door with an undisclosed amount of cash, to the area of 23rd Street and Arizona Avenue, authorities said.
After setting up a command center across from Saint John’s Hospital, a team of 10 SMPD officers and two police dogs searched each building on the east side of 23rd Street between Santa Monica Boulevard and Arizona Avenue. But after an exhaustive search that lasted until 6 p.m., the suspect had yet to be found.
The suspect entered the bank at 2221 Santa Monica Blvd., and handed a piece of scratch paper to the teller that said in black pen or pencil that he had a weapon, according to FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller. Then, in red ink, the note demanded “big bills.”
He then verbally told the bank teller, “Open the drawer. I have a gun. Put the bills in the bag. Put the 20s in,” Eimiller said. The teller complied and the suspect fled on foot.
“They are still investigating whether he’s linked to other robberies,” Eimiller said.
Police describe the suspect as a black man, between 34 and 40 years old, 6 feet tall, 170-175 pounds, with a slender build, black hair and a dark complexion. He was wearing a blue shirt, blue washed-out jeans, a green or light blue baseball cap and carrying a dark bag.
Neighbors and workers watched as police created the perimeter, blocking off alleys and roads from 22nd Street to Chelsea Avenue, between Santa Monica and Wilshire boulevards, for nearly five hours. The streets weren’t opened up to traffic again until shortly after 4 p.m.
“It’s really frightening,” said Ruth Sahagon, a 46-year resident of 23rd Street, who was ordered by police back into her house, which is north of Arizona Avenue. “They have these huge guns. I don’t know if they have pellets in there or the real thing.”
Molly Pitluck, 23, a law student at Pepperdine University, watched from the street as police searched her apartment building on 23rd Street. It was among the first building searched by officers, who continued south along 23rd Street until hitting Santa Monica Boulevard.
“I came out here,” she said. “The police told me to stop. I had my garage opener and they said, ‘You can’t go out there, you have to stop.’”
Pitluck said she spoke briefly with a US Bank security guard who told her the suspect ran into the guard when the suspect was coming out of the bank, and said, “Excuse me” and walked on calmly, so as not to raise any suspicions. Bankers then shouted at the guard to catch the suspect, and Pitluck said the security guard chased the robber into a building on the east side of 23rd Street, where police began their search.
Anyone with additional information regarding the incident is encouraged to call the SMPD’s robbery/homicide unit at (310) 458-8451. Callers who wish to remain anonymous, yet still become eligible for a reward, may call the We Tip national hotline at 1-800-78-CRIME (27463).
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 14, 2004. Read the original PDF.