Man in Bank Saves Deputy From Attacker

A bank customer in Palmdale became an instant hero Saturday when he jumped into a fistfight to save a sheriff’s deputy who was being choked by a length of cord from his police radio, authorities said.

The customer, Lee Bibbie of Altadena, enabled veteran Deputy Dennis Bernard to free himself from the grasp of a suspected check forger in a fight at a Security Pacific bank, Deputy Ronald Thomason of the Antelope Valley/Lancaster Sheriff’s Department station said.

The suspect, Cedric A. Brown, 35, of Los Angeles, had pinned Bernard to the floor and had tightened the radio cord around his neck for about 30 seconds before Bibbie came to the deputy’s aid, Thomason said. Brown, identified by police as a recent parolee on a drug conviction, was arrested moments later when more deputies arrived. He was booked on suspicion of forgery and attempted murder of a police officer, Thomason said.

“Bibbie intervening at that particular time perhaps saved Bernard’s life,” the sheriff’s spokesman said. “The fight may have turned out quite differently if Bibbie had not intervened. Had (the suspect) been able to choke (the deputy) unconscious for just for a second, he would have had time to grab the gun out of the holster.”

Police said the incident began when Brown tried to deposit a suspicious check for $550 and a bank manager notified the sheriff’s station. When Bernard, a 14-year police veteran, entered the bank, Brown tried to flee, Thomason said.

Bernard chased Brown and the two ran into a locked door. In the fight that followed, the 6-foot, 2-inch suspect allegedly struck the 5-foot, 10-inch deputy several times in the face and attempted to take the officer’s 9-millimeter handgun. At one point, Thomason said, the deputy threw the suspect onto a desk, but the officer’s momentum carried him and the suspect over the desktop and onto the floor.

The suspect landed on top and was able to grab the microphone and cord from Bernard’s portable police radio, Thomason said.

“He wrapped it around Bernard’s throat and tried to choke him to death,” the spokesman said. “Bernard had backup (officers) rolling. The backups were maybe two, three minutes away. But it only takes two or three seconds for something to go tragically wrong.”

Bibbie, who helped to subdue the suspect in the crucial moments before backup officers arrived, was not injured. He was believed to be the only customer in the bank at the time, and was waiting to open an account because he is moving to Palmdale, police said. A manager and two tellers were on duty, Thomason said.