1 Suspect Dies, 1 Wounded in Bullet-Punctuated Chases

Police chases of suspects in two unrelated bank robberies ended in gunfire Friday, leaving one man dead in Huntington Beach and another wounded in a busy Costa Mesa shopping mall.

In Huntington Beach, officers confronted a suspected bandit leaving a Bank of America branch about 4 p.m. and engaged in three separate gun battles during a frantic chase that wound through residential neighborhoods and ended in a busy intersection after the suspect’s car had been punctured by at least 75 bullets.

The unidentified suspect, described only as a man in his twenties, was declared dead at the scene. No one else was injured.

Before noon in Costa Mesa, many customers, including at least six children, took cover in the posh Crystal Court shopping mall, an annex of South Coast Plaza, as a police officer fired several shots at a bank robbery suspect’s vehicle, then captured the man after a chase. The suspect, who has been tentatively identified by the FBI as Frank Leslie Hall, was shot in the leg during the chase through the parking lot.

Although no other injuries were reported, customers interviewed said they were shaken by the incident and at times feared for their lives.

Both incidents are being investigated by the Orange County district attorney’s office, which is routine in officer-involved shootings.

In the Huntington Beach shooting, Police Sgt. Bill Peterson said the robber entered the Bank of America branch at the corner of Edinger Avenue and Springdale Street about 4:10 p.m. and told bank employees he had a gun. Police, who were alerted while the man was inside the bank, sent a helicopter to the scene, Peterson said. After the robber was given an undetermined amount of cash, he ran out the bank’s rear entrance and jumped into a white hatchback car parked behind the bank.

Alerted by officers in the police helicopter, a patrol car pulled up. The suspect fired at the officers and drove off on Royalist Drive, Huntington Beach Police Sgt. Lloyd Edwards said.

The patrol officers chased the suspect south on Standish Lane, then west on Edinger Avenue, where several patrol cars con fronted the driver and a second gun battle took place, Edwards said. The suspect made an U-turn and drove east on Edinger, entering the intersection of Edwards Street.

At that intersection, where passers-by were standing, the suspect again fired several shots at pursuing officers, Peterson said. Witnesses at the scene said a police officer on a motorcycle fired at the car and may have hit the robber. The car skidded to a stop several yards east of the intersection.

Greg O’Koorina, a supervisor at a gas station on the corner of Edwards and Edinger, said he heard several “pops” when the driver reached the intersection. O’Koorina said the driver had blood on his head and appeared to have been shot.

Once the suspect’s car came to a halt, several officers got out of patrol cars and opened fire. The white hatchback was riddled with holes and at least one of its tires was flat.

‘Looked Like Movie’

O’Koorina said the car looked like the end of the movie, “Bonnie and Clyde,” where the two criminals were slain in a hail of bullets.

Chris Markin, a worker at a nearby fast-food restaurant, said he saw at least four officers get out of their patrol cars and move 10 feet away from the vehicle after it stopped. Markin said the driver was slumped in his seat.

“When he (the driver) popped his head up, the officers began shooting. They didn’t want to chance it, I guess,” Markin said, adding that the gunfire lasted about two seconds.

Peterson said he could not comment on how many rounds were fired by officers or whether a weapon was found in the suspect’s car. He said the Police Department is handing the investigation over to the district attorney’s office. FBI officers also were on the scene to investigate the bank robbery, a federal crime.

Tellers Robbed

The Costa Mesa bank robber was believed to have robbed two tellers of an undetermined amount of cash at the Wells Fargo Bank in the 3400 block of Bristol Street at about 11:15 a.m. Friday, FBI spokesman Jim Neilson said.

That pursuit began when the robber left the bank’s south door and fled in a 1971 green Ford Mercury, Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Ron Smith said.

Bank officials gave police a description of the getaway car, and a short time later, officers spotted a similar vehicle. When police tried to stop that car, the driver sped through the South Coast Plaza parking lot on Bristol Street, which was half-filled before lunchtime, police said.

In front of Bullock’s and I Magnin department stores in the mall parking lot, one police car tried to block the suspect’s car. But the suspect rammed the patrol car. Smith said the officer was not hurt, but that the car’s radiator grill was smashed in.

Followed by several more patrol cars, the suspect drove west across Bear Street and into the Crystal Court parking lot, Smith said. As the Mercury turned down an aisle, the driver lost control of the vehicle, hit a curb and several parked cars.

Hit Patrol Car

The suspect then backed up abruptly and collided with a second Costa Mesa patrol car. He then pulled forward and hit a parked Mercedes-Benz station wagon, Smith said.

While still in the lot, Smith said the suspect tried to run down a Costa Mesa patrolman who was on foot. He said the officer fired a shot at the suspect’s car with a .45-caliber handgun. Smith would not release the number of shots fired.

Hall, who suffered a minor gunshot wound to his leg, got out of the car and surrendered, Smith said.

“After he got hit, I was expecting him to lose it,” said Jim Smevog, 29, of Costa Mesa who had been working on a construction project across the street from Robinson’s. “We saw him waving his hand like he had enough.”

Hall was treated at the scene by the Costa Mesa Fire Department and transported to Fountain Valley Regional Medical Center.

Police said he is being held on suspicion of three counts of armed robbery and three counts of assault with a deadly weapon on an officer.

Smith said that police policy dictates that officers fire only when their lives or those of others are in danger. They should not fire if there is not a clear shot or people are close the suspect, Smith said.

Several witnesses, including at least six children who were in the parking lot at the time of the shooting, said they were shaken up by the incident.

Yolanda Mansour of Irvine had come to shop with her daughters, Terri, 8, and Christina, 10 and their cousin, Ronya Mansour, 13, of Maryland.

“I saw a policeman pull a gun,” Christina Mansour said. “My mom told us to duck down. Then we heard shots.”

Yolanda Mansour said she thought they should get back to their van, but her hands were shaking too hard to hold the keys steady. “It was scary,” Terri Mansour said.

Fee Westfall, 84, and her husband, Arthur, 85, of Mesa Verde, had just parked their car when they saw the suspect’s car hitting others in the lot and the shots rang out.

“It was terrible,” Fee Westfall said. “I was pretty scared. Policemen were shooting at the wheels of the car. They tried to stop the car when they started shooting at the wheels of the car. It came barreling through here.”

When she thought the shooting had stopped, Westfall said she grabbed her husband and they ran toward the store. “We wouldn’t have been hit, I don’t think so.”

Nancy Guedea, who was at the doorway of the store, said she grabbed her three children, ages 5, 3 and 11 months, and pulled them behind a wall, fearing they might be hit by ricocheting bullets.

“I was surprised,” the Costa Mesa woman said. “It’s so close to home. You never think it will happen near where you live--only on TV.”

Smevog said he and three other workers ducked behind a construction wall, fearing at moments they were in the line of fire.

“It got the old heart pumping,” he said. “It was kind of exciting for a Friday. I’m just glad none of the strays (bullets) made it over here.”

Times staff writer Lynn Smith contributed to this report.