GRANADA HILLS : Wells Fargo Offers $50,000 Reward in Hostage Ordeal
Wells Fargo Bank on Monday offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the man who took a branch manager and his family hostage in their Granada Hills home this month.
The reward offer is one of several measures bank officials are taking to deter similar extortion attempts and to cut down the record bank robbery rate in Southern California. The reward was announced in full-page ads published Monday in The Times and Daily News. A detective investigating the April 14 attack on banker Alan R. Butts, his wife, Mercedes, and their three children said the ads generated more than a dozen calls before noon Monday, providing potential new leads in the case.
The family escaped unharmed after a 4 1/2-hour ordeal that began when a man forced his way into their home and strapped what he said were explosives to Butts and his wife. The pager-like devices turned out to be fakes and the extortionist fled.
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