Gunman Gets Away With $90,000 From a Bank of Newport

A gunman robbed a Newport Beach bank of an estimated $90,000 just before it opened for business Wednesday, fleeing the scene in a bank employee’s car, police said.

Newport Beach police recovered the white Ford Escort station wagon at the Oakwood Gardens apartment complex, a quarter of a mile from the Bank of Newport, where the robbery occurred. Police and FBI officials were examining the car for fingerprints.

Police Sgt. Andy Gonis said the robber confronted two employees outside the bank at 747 Dover Drive as they were reporting to work at 8:30 a.m., and forced them to open the vault.

When several more employees arrived for work, the man ordered them to one corner of the bank while he stuffed the cash in an attache case he had brought with him, police said.

He did not fire his handgun, and no one was hurt. The thief then took one of the worker’s car keys and left in the employee’s car, Gonis said.

According to FBI spokesman Gary Morley, the $90,000 haul was unusually large. More typically, robbers get away with about $1,500 to $2,000, Morley said.

Bank of Newport officials declined to comment Wednesday.

Morley said he believes that the robber was not working with any of the bank employees and is not suspected of past robberies.

The thief wore dark glasses and a business suit. He had his hair in a ponytail and had a scar on his right cheek. He was described as Caucasian with an olive complexion, 5-foot-8, and weighing 250 pounds.