S & L Heist Suspect Found Hiding

A man suspected of the gunpoint robbery of $1,000 from a Sherman Oaks savings and loan Friday was captured after hiding in a residential neighborhood for more than two hours, Los Angeles police said.

Police used a helicopter and search dogs to try to find the suspect, whom they suspected to be hiding in a one-square-block area by the bank. But the man was not discovered until a woman returned to her home and became suspicious because a door to her garage was locked--a door usually left unlocked, she said.

The woman then summoned police, who found the suspect nearby.

Jeffrey Newmark, 34, of North Hollywood, was arrested on suspicion of armed robbery and taken to the Parker Center Jail, Sgt. Al Moen said.

Confronted by Guard

The arrest followed the 12:37 p.m. robbery of Union Federal Savings at 13300 Ventura Blvd. Police said Newmark gave a teller a note demanding money and displayed a gun he carried in a small attache case. After the teller gave Newmark about $1,000, he tried to run, but was confronted by a security guard who wrestled with him briefly, Moen said.

Newmark then drew his gun on the guard, who let him run out the rear entrance of the bank, Moen said. The guard chased Newmark as he ran into the nearby residential neighborhood, but lost him when he jumped over a fence and ran through a few yards.

A one-square block area around the bank was cordoned off and several homes in the area were evacuated, police said.

After two hours, police lifted the evacuation order, but continued to search the neighborhood on a smaller scale.

Summoned Police

When one resident, Kathleen Moss, was allowed by police to return to her home in the 4100 block of Fulton Avenue, she examined her garage, “and found a few doors which should not have been locked, locked,” she said. “We went to get the police, then we went through a locked door, found the doors which I had just locked, unlocked, leading us to believe that someone had just left through those doors.”

Police then found Newmark, who had just stepped from the garage, Moen said.

“As soon as I saw the police and heard him yell ‘freeze,’ I ran for my house,” Moss said.