LOCAL : 1 Held After 3 Banks Robbed

Banks in Garden Grove, La Palma and Fullerton were robbed Thursday, police said.

In the Garden Grove robbery, a bank employee chased a bandit and held him until officers arrived.

The incident occurred about 2:15 p.m. when the robber entered First Interstate Bank in the 12000 block of Valley View Street. After presenting a note demanding money, the bandit left with an undisclosed amount of cash, Lt. Ron Weigand said.

Weigand said a bank employee followed the man and detained him until officers arrived. All the money was recovered, Weigand said. Police later booked David Anderson, 38, on suspicion of bank robbery.

Authorities are searching for suspects who held up banks in La Palma and Fullerton.

In the La Palma robbery, a man wearing dark sunglasses presented a note demanding money to a teller at the Sumitomo Bank in the 5000 block of Orangethorpe Avenue, a police spokeswoman said. The man escaped with an undisclosed amount of money, she said.

A similar incident occurred at 1:37 p.m. at the Sanwa Bank in the 3000 block of East Yorba Linda Boulevard in Fullerton, where a bandit escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash.

Police said they do not believe that the incidents are related.