Guard Gets a Robbery Suspect and LAPD Offer

Fleet-footed security guard Aundra Spencer did more than chase down a fleeing bank robber in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday. He put himself in the running for a job with the Los Angeles Police Department.

In a turn of events that drew applause from customers at a Bank of America branch on West 7th Street, Spencer single-handedly caught, handcuffed and brought back a man who had made off with $1,020 in an early morning holdup. He then was handed a job application from LAPD officers who arrived at the scene.

“Aundra is definitely a hero,” LAPD Sgt. Bob Grant said, praising the 29-year-old former college football player. “A lot of people would have definitely had second thoughts about pursuing and wrestling with a suspect they thought might have a gun.

“His attention to duty and devotion to duty were outstanding--the kinds of things we look for in a police officer. . . .”

The chase, which covered about a block from the bank on 7th Street to a market on nearby Figueroa Street, resulted in the arrest of James Ernest Davis, 44, who is suspected of taking part in at least 10 other bank robberies, according to police. Although he was unarmed when arrested, the suspect allegedly handed a note to the bank teller saying, “This is a holdup,” before being handed a stack of $10 and $20 bills that he rolled and slipped into his pants pocket, authorities said.

Spencer, who had seen the suspect enter the bank, remembered being struck by the man’s “uptight” appearance and by the relatively short amount of time spent filling out a transaction slip. The guard, an employee of the Van Nuys-based Pinkerton Inc. security service, recalled glancing at the teller’s face as soon as the man left the window.

“She looked scared,” he said. “She looked to be in a state of shock.”

By the time Spencer followed him out the door, the suspect was half a block away and sprinting in tennis shoes, he said. But the 6-foot-2, 230-pound Spencer said he hasn’t lost much of his speed since he was an amateur 800-meter runner and football free-safety at Eastern Arizona College.

Taxis ‘Off Limit’

“I can run pretty good,” he said.

As the suspect turned onto Figueroa, crossing the street to a line of waiting taxis, Spencer closed in. Two taxi drivers, seeing the uniformed guard in pursuit, locked their doors as the suspect tried to obtain a ride, Spencer said. The suspect then dashed across the street again, where Spencer finally caught him, punched him once in the face to subdue him and slapped on a pair of handcuffs.

After they returned to the bank, the suspect--lying face down on the floor--remarked, “Can I tell you something? You can run ,” Spencer recalled. “I couldn’t believe this guy was . . . telling me this. A lady said, ‘He was running fast--but you were running faster!’ ”

Spencer said he was pleased to be given an LAPD job application. But he’s planning to enter school this fall to become an independent private investigator.