Carolyn Sackariason/Daily Press Police say Gkur Shawn Skylark, charged with Saturday’s bank robbery, tried to make his getaway in the back of a cab. Suspect charged with robbery, kidnapping
MID-WILSHIRE — A suspected bank robber was nabbed by police Saturday after he attempted to use a taxi as his getaway car.
Gkur Shawn Skylark, 26, of Wilmington was arrested by Santa Monica Police shortly before noon after he allegedly robbed the Union Bank in the 2000 block of Wilshire. “What an idiot,” said one passerby who watched the scene unfold on the sidewalk in front of Cellular Fantasy.
According to the preliminary investigation, Skylark entered the bank, displayed what appeared to be a handgun and demanded money. After receiving the money, Skylark allegedly left the bank and climbed into the awaiting cab. Officers responding to the scene saw the cab around the 2600 block of Wilshire and stopped the vehicle.
Police conducted several field showups at the corner of 26th Street and Wilshire Boulevard. Witnesses, who sat in a nearby police car, looked at Skylark from different angles before positively identifying him as the suspected bank robber. Skylark was led in and out of a police car, and was asked to stand at the corner of the intersection and face different directions. One witness asked that the hood on Skylark’s jacket be put on his head for proper identification.
Forensic investigators combed the back of the cab for evidence. They found a duffle bag stuffed with a backpack, which contained a large Ziploc bag of cash. Only $1 bills were visible. A replica handgun was also recovered in the Skylark’s possession.
The cab driver, who declined to give his name, said he got a call for a passenger pick-up near the bank. Skylark entered the back of the cab but didn’t say where he wanted to go when the driver asked him.
“He just said, ‘Go here and then turn here,’” the driver said, shaking his head in disbelief. “Why do this? He’s a young guy, I don’t understand this.”
The cab driver, who’s retired and was only driving the cab as a favor to a friend who recently suffered a heart attack, said his last day was Sunday.
“I feel lucky,” he said, adding that he was going to try to capitalize on his good fortune by buying a lottery ticket on Saturday.
Skylark was booked at the Santa Monica Jail for bank robbery, kidnap-ping and parole violation. No bail was set. Detectives from the robbery/homicide unit of the Santa Monica Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigations are handling the investigation.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 14, 2005. Read the original PDF.