MID-CITY — The U.S. Bank on Santa Monica Boulevard was robbed at gunpoint Wednesday morning, making it the second time the branch was robbed in less than a month and the third time in less than six months.
Santa Monica police responded to call from an employee at 10:24 a.m. reporting that the bank, located at 2221 Santa Monica Blvd., was being robbed by a man with a gun. When officers arrived, the suspect had already fled on foot. A search was conducted in the area, but nothing turned up.
FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said after the suspect entered the bank, he asked a guard to borrow a pen. The suspect took the pen from the guard, walked to the counter and wrote something on a note. When the guard approached the suspect to ask for his pen back, he pulled a gun from his waistband, pointed it at the teller’s head and said “give me your money.”
The suspect then went to a second teller and demanded more money. He was last seen running toward 23rd Street on Santa Monica Boulevard and into a rear alley, Eimiller said. An undisclosed amount of cash was taken.
The suspect is described as in his late 30s, black, 5 feet, 9 inches tall, weighing 180 to 190 pounds, with a muscular build. He had a thin beard around his jaw line, short hair and a dark complexion. He was wearing a long-sleeve yellow sweater, blue jeans and carried a black pistol.
That particular U.S. Bank also was robbed on Jan. 8 when a white man in his late 50s handed a note to the teller, threatening a weapon, saying “give me all of your hundreds and fifties,” Eimiller said.
And last July, police cordoned off four square blocks for five hours after the bank’s security guard apparently chased the suspect, who exited the back door with an undisclosed amount of cash, to the area of 23rd Street and Arizona Avenue, authorities said.
The suspect entered the bank and handed a piece of scratch paper to the teller that said in black pen or pencil that he had a weapon. He then verbally told the bank teller, “Open the drawer. I have a gun. Put the bills in the bag. Put the twenties in,” Eimiller said. The teller complied and the suspect fled on foot.
Police described the suspect in the July robbery as a black man, between 34 and 40 years old, six feet tall, 170 to 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.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 3, 2005. Read the original PDF.