It’s Not Business as Usual as 2 Walk In on Empty Bank

The City National Bank at Sunset Boulevard and Doheny Road in West Hollywood was open Saturday--but it wasn’t supposed to be.

The double glass doors at the front entrance were unlocked when two customers looking to buy some traveler’s checks arrived at the bank shortly before noon. As they stepped inside the lobby, the lights were on but something was missing: There were no employees. The computers were turned off and the typewriters were covered. The vault door was shut.

Because of the eerie quiet, the two men thought there might be tellers tied up by robbers behind the counters, but found no one there. They yelled, but no one answered. They jumped up and down in front of the security cameras, but no one responded.

“This is Hollywood and I started to think we were on ‘Candid Camera,’ ” said Brad Hahn, one of the two men who discovered business was not as usual at the bank. “But nobody jumped out and said, ‘ Gotcha! ‘ “

Finally, the pair telephoned Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies, who arrived 45 minutes later. It appeared that employees or janitors had left and forgot to lock the doors, said Sheriff’s Deputy Dave Osman. The bank officially closed for the weekend at 6 p.m. Friday.

By Saturday afternoon, a Pinkerton security guard wearing a San Francisco Giants baseball cap showed up and said everything inside the bank was fine, the vault was locked, and nothing was missing.

“Sometimes we find small shop owners forget to lock their doors,” Osman said. “But it’s pretty rare to find a bank open like this.”

Hahn, 26, and his buddy, Max McBeth, 32, both of Los Angeles, said they first went to another branch of City National Bank in Beverly Hills to purchase traveler’s checks for an upcoming trip. That branch was closed, but a security guard told them the City National branch on Sunset was open.

And it was--much to the surprise of the two men, who waited for police in big easy chairs in the loan department. At one point, Hahn said he answered a call from another bank asking to verify funds in a savings account.

“After we got over our initial shock, it was funny,” Hahn said. “Two guys in shorts and tank T-shirts sitting in a large empty bank.”

City National Bank officials could not be reached for comment. But as the Pinkerton guard relocked the bank doors, he said: “Come back Monday when we reopen. I’m sure somebody will have a lot to say then.”