9 Hostages Safe After Overnight Ordeal : Canyon Country: Gunmen rob bank after captive opens vault.

Nine people--including five children--were held hostage overnight in the Canyon Country home of a bank officer, who then was forced by gunmen Friday morning to open her bank’s vault under the threat that her family would be harmed if she did not comply.

The thieves escaped with an undisclosed amount of money from the bank, TransWorld Bank on Soledad Canyon Road, the FBI reported.

Bank officer Toula Demosthenous and the eight other people taken hostage by the five gunmen--including children ages 12 through 18--were unharmed, FBI spokesman John Hoos said. Two other bank employees held hostage during the robbery also escaped injury. Demosthenous is an assistant operations officer at the TransWorld Bank branch.

Three of the five suspects, all described as in their mid-20s, escaped in Demosthenous’ 1991 red Toyota 4Runner after stealing the money, Hoos said. Police are uncertain how the other two gunmen, left behind at Demosthenous’ Bernina Avenue home with the hostages, escaped.

Hoos said that it was “too premature” to say whether the heist was an inside job, but noted that the robbers “knew what they were doing.”

The incident began about 12:30 p.m. Thursday, when Demosthenous’ 16-year-old daughter, Nikki, and some of her friends arrived at the family’s home for lunch.

Three men armed with semiautomatic handguns lay in wait, Hoos said.

“We walked in, six of us at lunchtime . . . and there they were,” said Chris Bohjalian, 18, who identified himself as Nikki’s boyfriend. “They asked us to get on the floor. They blindfolded us and tied our hands, and we stayed like that” until Friday morning.

“They were very relaxed and very comforting,” Bohjalian said. “And they made it very clear they were just there for the bank.

“I’m just happy to be alive and I look at this as a second chance,” he added.

“I’m feeling kind of shaken up,” said Savvos Demosthenous, Nikki’s younger brother, who was also taken hostage.

“They were very, very polite, actually,” said Nikki, adding that she thinks the robbers had followed her mother home on a previous occasion.

Toula Demosthenous arrived home about 5 p.m., authorities said. Hoos said the men used string and handcuffs to tie up their victims. At some point in the evening, two other gunmen arrived at the house, he said.

Four of the men wore ski masks and a fifth wore a blue baseball cap and a bandanna over his face. The FBI agent said it was unknown how the gunmen got into the house.

Three of the men drove Demosthenous to the bank about 7:50 a.m. Friday morning. There they forced her to open the bank’s vault, threatening that her family would be harmed by the two men still at the house, Hoos said.

“They let her know that they had weapons and that harm would come to her family if she didn’t comply with instructions,” Hoos said.

At some point during the robbery, two tellers arrived for work at the bank and were also taken hostage, Hoos said. Demosthenous subsequently opened the vault and the robbers fled with the cash in her car, license plate 2WSX327.

Demosthenous went back to her house, about half a mile away, to make sure that her family was safe and the two gunmen were gone. She then called the police from a neighbor’s house, Hoos said. No explanation was offered why she didn’t use the phone in her house.

Although the way in which the gunmen robbed the bank--holding the employee, her family and friends hostage--was uncommon, the fact that a robbery took place was not, Hoos said.

“This is just another typical day in California. We have so many robberies.”

The FBI agent said that 2,641 bank robberies were committed in Southern California last year, 880 of which took place in Los Angeles. So far this year, 718 bank robberies have occurred in Southern California, a 25% decrease compared to the same period last year.

Two years ago in Palmdale, a similar takeover robbery attempt occurred when two gunmen held the assistant manager of Southern California Savings in Newhall and her husband captive for 36 hours. The attempt was foiled when a silent alarm went off in the bank.

After Friday’s robbery, Elizabeth Nielson, vice president of marketing for TransWorld Bank, said the bank spent the day arranging crisis-management sessions for employees. The bank also changed its locks and closed its automated teller machine.

The bank has 10 branches in the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Conejo valleys, Nielson said.

News of the incident shook residents of this middle-class suburb. The robbers were so quiet that nearby residents were unaware that their neighbors were being held hostage.

Karen Swanson said that she and her children spent Thursday afternoon selling homemade lemonade at a makeshift stand next to the Demosthenous house, unaware that anything was amiss.

“They are the nicest, kindest people. . . . I’m just pleased they’re not hurt,” Swanson said.

“I didn’t see or hear anything until the police came at about 9:30 a.m.,” said Janice Pasqua, who lives a few houses from the Demosthenous residence.

Others were alarmed that such a bold crime occurred in their quiet Canyon Country neighborhood.

“This type of thing isn’t supposed to happen here,” said Wendy Beynon.

“I can’t believe it,” said Millie Thomas, who has lived on the two-block street for 27 years. “We’ve never had trouble like this before. I remember the times when we used to leave our doors open and everybody watched out for each other,” Thomas said. “Now, I don’t even know anybody. It was beautiful, now everything’s horrible.”

Times staff writer Timothy Williams contributed to this story.