Guard, 2 Others Arrested in Holdup, Murder at Bank
The robbery and murder of a customer at a Wells Fargo Bank in Westchester last week apparently was set up by a security guard familiar with the customer’s banking habits, police said Monday.
Oliver Thomas Jr., 25, was one of three men arrested Friday after the slaying of Donald Lee, the 55-year-old owner of a Hawthorne check-cashing business, Lt. Ross Moen said. Lee had just cashed a check when two robbers confronted him about 9 a.m. after he left the Wells Fargo branch at 8939 S. Sepulveda Blvd. Lee had a gun and in the ensuing volley of shots, Lee was killed and his alleged killer, Kevin Odell Thomas, 19, was wounded. The third suspect, Damon Lamont Walker, 24, allegedly drove the getaway car and was not hurt.
Oliver Thomas Jr., Kevin Thomas’ brother, was a security guard at that branch, Moen said, and “he had observed Mr. Lee’s habits,” Moen said.
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