Bank Holdup Suspect Wounded by Police

Undercover officers staking out a Panorama City bank because of a wave of holdups followed a robber outside Friday and shot him because he reached for his waistband, Los Angeles police said. The wounded man was not armed.

He was listed in serious condition after surgery at Holy Cross Medical Center following the 9:45 a.m. shooting behind the Great Western Bank at 8201 Van Nuys Blvd. A hospital spokeswoman said the man was struck by bullets in the hip and spine.

Police said John Davis, 22, of Los Angeles was shot because he made a furtive grab toward his waistband when officers attempted to arrest him. When the wounded Davis was searched, however, no gun was found, Officer Sharyn Michelson said.

“The officers thought their lives were in danger and one officer fired,” she said.

Officers Steve Ulrich, 28, and Lawrence Poehls, 36, both members of the department’s Metropolitan Unit, were on stakeout in the bank when the robbery occurred, Detective Bill Holcomb said. The stakeout was prompted by a dramatic increase in bank robberies in the San Fernando Valley, police said.

According to FBI statistics, there have been 257 bank robberies in the Valley this year, compared to 192 during the same period last year. FBI spokesman Jim Neilson said that in addition to the Great Western robbery, banks in Chatsworth and Tarzana were robbed Friday. There were no arrests made in those cases.

Police said the Great Western Bank was one of several that have been under surveillance in recent weeks.

“Because of the rash of robberies, the officers set up inside the bank,” Michelson said. “They were established inside when the suspect came in and went to the teller.”

The man handed a teller a note demanding cash, Michelson said. The teller gave him about $1,400--later recovered from Davis--but was able to alert the officers, Michelson said.

To not endanger bank employees and customers, the undercover officers allowed the suspected robber to leave by the bank’s back door, then moved in on him at the far end of the bank’s parking lot, near a chain-link fence and a small office building, she said.

“As he fled, Davis turned and made a furtive movement with his right hand. In the belief that Davis was preparing to shoot him, Officer Ulrich fired three rounds,” Holcomb said.

Holcomb said police will seek a bank robbery charge against Davis. Michelson added that the wounded man resembles photographs of a man suspected of holding up other banks in the same area, and is being investigated in connection with those crimes.