OXNARD : Man Uses Bomb Threat to Rob Thrift
An Oxnard thrift was evacuated Wednesday when a robber left a paper bag containing what he said was a bomb before fleeing with an undetermined amount of money, authorities said.
However, police later discovered that the bag contained only a watch.
The incident occurred shortly after 11 a.m., when a man entered a branch of First Nationwide Bank at 1055 S. Oxnard Blvd. and presented a demand note to a teller, Oxnard Police Officer Lee Wilcox said.
Witnesses said the robber was about 30 years old, 5 feet, 9 inches tall, thin and had blond hair and a mustache. He wore a military fatigue jacket over denim pants and covered his head with a blue-and-white bandanna.
The robber carried a brown grocery bag, and his demand note indicated that he had a bomb, FBI Special Agent Gary Auer said. The robber left the bag on a counter when he fled, Auer said.
After customers and employees of the bank were evacuated, a sheriff’s bomb squad was summoned. A search of the bag turned up the watch but no explosives, Auer said.
“Neither the description of the suspect nor the method of robbery fits other recent bank robberies in the county,” Auer said.
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