VENTURA : Teller Just Says No, Thwarts Robbery

A bank robbery in Ventura was thwarted Friday by a teller who refused to hand over the money after receiving a demand note, authorities said.

Fifteen minutes later, a man authorities believe was the same robber fled with an undetermined amount of cash from a bank nearby, said Gary Auer, head of the FBI’s Ventura County office.

The robber entered American Commercial Bank on East Main Street and presented a teller with a demand note. The teller refused to hand him the money and dropped some coins onto the floor to draw the attention of other employees, investigators said.

The man ran out empty-handed. About 15 minutes later, authorities said, he entered the Bank of A. Levy on Harbor Boulevard and showed the teller a demand note, then fled on foot with an undetermined amount of cash.

In both cases, physical descriptions of the man matched.

The robber was described as a Latino in his late 30s or early 40s, who wears prescription glasses. He has brown hair and brown eyes and is about 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighs about 180 pounds.

His description is similar to that of another would-be robber who was spooked during a bank robbery attempt Thursday in Oxnard, the FBI said.

In that incident, a teller at First Nationwide Bank received a note and was fumbling for his money box keys when he accidentally dropped them, said Steve Johnson, a bank spokesman.

“The poor man was so nervous,” Johnson said, that he “got a little spooked and left.”