Wanted in 17 Bank Robberies : Freeway Chase Nets Theft Suspect

A man suspected of 17 bank robberies in the San Fernando Valley was arrested Friday after a 30-minute chase that began at high speeds on the Simi Valley Freeway in Northridge and ended on foot on a residential street in Simi Valley, Los Angeles police said.

Police officers caught Dennis Bryant Graham, 29, of Thousand Oaks about 3 p.m. after he abandoned the black Camaro he had driven at up to 100 m.p.h. in an attempt to avoid capture, Lt. Harvie Eubank said.

Graham, who is suspected of robbing banks in Canoga Park, Granada Hills, Encino and Simi Valley since mid-March, hit two cars on Simi Valley residential streets and ran three others off the road during the chase, but no one was injured, Eubank said.

A police car finally sideswiped the Camaro, bringing it to a stop at Cochran Street and Boalt Avenue, he said.

“We thought he might wind up killing somebody,” Eubank said, noting that Graham reached his peak speed on residential streets.

Graham got out of his car and ran away but was overtaken moments later by two Los Angeles police officers and an off-duty Simi Valley police officer, authorities said.

Driving By

The off-duty officer was driving by when he saw Graham running down Cochran Street with the two Los Angeles officers close behind, Simi Valley Lt. Jon Ainsworth said. The off-duty officer left his car and joined the pursuit, Ainsworth said.

The chase began after Los Angeles police in a patrol car on the Simi Valley Freeway at Tampa Avenue spotted a car that fit the description of one given by witnesses to several of the bank robberies, Eubank said. The robberies had been so frequent--one every two or three days--that the officers, thinking he might strike again, had staked out the freeway and watched for the car, he said. “It was just one shot in a thousand,” Eubank said.

Authorities also have photographs of the bank robber taken by bank cameras, he said.

The robber’s pattern was to wear a different pair of sunglasses and baseball cap during each holdup, wield a small revolver and present a teller with a note written on a paper bag, Eubank said. Authorities have not disclosed how much money was taken in the robberies.

Graham, who was arrested on suspicion of bank robbery, is being held without bail at the Parker Center Jail. Police are expected to seek additional charges stemming from the chase, Eubank said.