Robber Fires Handgun in Huntington Beach Bank

A man who escaped with money from several tellers after firing a shot in an unoccupied area of a bank remained at large on Saturday, police said.

The robber entered a branch of Security Pacific Bank, 16811 Algonquin St., at 5:10 p.m. Friday and fired one shot from a handgun at a window in the building, said Huntington Beach Police Sgt. Louis Ochoa.

No one was standing near the window and none of the 20 employees and customers inside the bank was injured, Ochoa said.

“I guess it was a way of getting (the people’s) attention,” Ochoa said. “He told everybody in the bank that it was a robbery.”

The suspect then went to each of five teller windows, put an undisclosed amount of cash into a bag, and fled out the front door, Ochoa said.

The suspect is described as a man of medium build in his late 30s, 5-foot-9 with black curly hair and a beard. He was wearing sunglasses, a brown cap and dark pants.

Investigators believe the weapon used was a .22-caliber semiautomatic pistol.