Deputies Say Customer Captured Bank Robber

An unarmed Westlake resident who tried to rob a Thousand Oaks bank Saturday morning was arrested after a bank customer caught him as he was fleeing from the scene, the Ventura County Sherif’s Department said.

Wayne Anthony Souza, 41, was arrested on suspicion of bank robbery after he was apprehended by Gerald Saavedrea, 29, near the branch of American Savings and Loan that had been robbed a few minutes earlier, authorities said.

Sheriff’s Lt. Kelli McIlvain said Souza went into the bank, in the 100 block of North Moorpark Road, about 11:30 a.m. After waiting his turn in line, he quietly approached a teller and handed her a note that said he had a gun and demanded money.

The teller gave him money, and the suspect ran out of the bank, McIlvain said.

Saavedra realized what was happening when he saw the look of fear on the teller’s face, McIlvain said, and pursued the man.

Saavedra chased Souza along the street, wrestled him to the ground and held him until sheriff’s deputies arrived. McIlvain said the deputies recovered the note and the money, but Souza did not have a weapon.

Souza was taken to the Ventura County Jail and was being held on $100,000 bail.