Bank Holdup Heroes Acted on Instincts

Becoming heroes was not on their minds the day two men chased and helped apprehend the man police have called the most notorious bank robber in San Diego’s history.

Bruce Jackson, 40, and Troy Abbott, 21--both officially recognized Tuesday for their roles in the arrest of a man suspected of being the A’s Bandit--were concentrating their efforts on finding jobs, not criminals, when they pulled into a Von’s parking lot at lunchtime April 26 to buy beer.

But when they heard a woman yell, “Stop him! That guy just robbed the bank!” Jackson quickly persuaded Abbott to join him and both men chased the man, with a wad of money still protruding from his pocket, through the parking lot, across a busy University City street and through a condominium complex before they lost him several blocks later.

The woman turned out to be an employee of the San Diego Trust & Savings bank branch, which sits in the same University City shopping mall as Von’s, in the 7700 block of Regents Road. A man fitting the description of the A’s Bandit had just robbed the bank of $496.

Jackson said that, until he yelled, “Stop! Police! Or I’ll shoot!” during the chase, he hadn’t thought about the man being armed. “He pulled out a knife and dropped it at that point,” but continued running, Jackson said.

“I was getting pretty tired by then,” Jackson said when asked why he identified himself as a police officer. “I had to think of something (to end the chase).”

Abbott said he also hadn’t thought about the man having a weapon when he joined in the chase. “It wasn’t like it was pre-planned or anything,” he said. “We just did what we had to do.”

The men did not capture the suspect but, on their way back to the parking lot, Jackson found a checkbook the man dropped. It was used to help the FBI and police identify and arrest David Warren Malley two hours later.

Jackson and Abbott were also able to identify a car the man attempted to enter during the chase but gave up when the men closed in on him. The car’s license plate coincided with a partial license plate reported to police by a witness in a previous A’s Bandit robbery, said Dave Cohen, a spokesman for the San Diego Police Department.

“They were very instrumental in terms of getting the arrest and search warrants,” FBI spokesman Ron Orrantia said.

Together, the checkbook and the car provided two key clues leading to Malley’s arrest.

Police arrested Malley on suspicion of robbing the San Diego Trust & Savings branch after tracing him to his apartment through the checkbook found by Jackson, and are investigating any ties he may have to the previous 28 robberies believed committed by the A’s Bandit. He is being held without bail at the federal Metropolitan Correctional Center downtown.

For nearly three months, the A’s Bandit had baffled police and the FBI by escaping with more than $30,000 he’d robbed from banks that stretched from downtown San Diego to Del Mar. Called cool and elusive, he was nicknamed for the green and gold Oakland Athletics baseball cap that he wore to his first seven robberies.

Malley, who moved to San Diego early this year from New York, denies being involved in any of the robberies. As a child, he said he was in and out of foster homes and was eventually convicted for passing bad checks and possessing a stolen car. Malley said the San Diego police are using him as a scapegoat in the case because of his out-of-state criminal record and troubled childhood.

At a press conference Tuesday, San Diego Police Chief Bob Burgreen awarded Jackson and Abbott with certificates describing their actions.

“You did what a lot of people don’t do these days,” Burgreen said. “You took a chance. You got involved.”

Jackson responded: “Glad to be of some assistance.” Then he looked deadpan into the small gathering of press and police officials clustered in the chief’s office at police headquarters and said, “I need a job if anyone’s out there.”

Thomas Sefton, president of the San Diego Trust & Savings, gave each man a check for $500.

“Thank you very much for helping the community,” he said, handing the check to Jackson.

“You’d better cash that right away,” he quipped as he handed a check to Abbott.

Both men said they hadn’t expected any award for their efforts. They shopped in the area because Jackson, a former appliance technician, was a student at UCSD and lived in university housing near the bank.

Ironically, he was evicted Monday, little more than a week after the robbery, because he could no longer afford to attend the school and dropped out, he said.

Two days ago, Jackson and his wife moved their 16-year-old son and two preschool daughters to a $50-per-day Loma Portal motel while they searched for an apartment, he said. Abbott, who lives with the Jacksons at the motel, said he is also unemployed and attempting to find a job as a security guard.