LAGUNA HILLS : No Charges for Man Who Killed Robber

The Orange County district attorney’s office has ruled that a Dana Point boat builder who fatally shot a bank robber in Laguna Hills will not be prosecuted for the killing.

The district attorney’s action last week clears Robert S. Eeg, 42, of any criminal wrongdoing in the killing of Benjamin James Conkle, 31, of Poway. Conkle was shot June 10 just after he had robbed the Bank of America branch behind the Laguna Hills Mall, police said.

Minutes before the bank robbery, police said, Conkle robbed a Mission Viejo car rental company of a late-model car. He then drove to Laguna Hills, they said, where he forced the bank tellers at gunpoint to hand over cash. The amount of money was not disclosed.

Eeg, who had been waiting to make a deposit when the robbery occurred, followed Conkle to the parking lot, took a gun from his van, loaded it and shot Conkle several times. Eeg and sheriff’s investigators later discovered that the bank robber was unarmed at that time.

Eeg told investigators that Conkle had pulled a black object from under his jacket and lunged at him and that Eeg was in fear of his life, Sheriff’s Lt. Richard J. Olson said.

The black object turned out to be a glove, Olson said. Olson noted that Conkle had apparently put his weapon in the stolen car after the robbery.