Mall Bomb Scare May Be Linked to Bank Robbery : Crime: As a fake incendiary device was being removed from a news rack in Laguna Hills, a holdup was taking place half a mile away.

A shopping plaza was evacuated during a one-hour bomb scare Monday that Orange County sheriff’s investigators believe may have been a diversion for a nearby bank robbery.

As a sheriff’s bomb squad was removing a fake incendiary device from a Los Angeles Times news rack at about 11:30 a.m., two men were robbing a Bank of America about half a mile away from the shopping center at El Toro Road and Moulton Parkway, authorities said.

“We’re looking at the possibility they could be linked,” said Sheriff’s Lt. Dan Martini. “It’s a logical avenue to investigate.”

An FBI spokesman said that two men threatened bank customers, brandishing pistols and waving what appeared to be a hand grenade before they escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash.

“It was a takeover,” said FBI special agent Gary Morley. “One of them had come in and talked to (a bank employee) about a home loan. As soon as the second guy came in, they pulled out their guns.

“One also yelled out that he had a bomb and produced what looked to be a hand grenade.”

There were no injuries, Morley said.

A 1978 Oldsmobile believed to be the getaway car was found a short distance away in a residential neighborhood at Verdugo and Alcalde drives.

FBI investigators are “aware of the bomb scare and we’re looking into it to see if (the incidents) are related,” Morley said.

The first suspect is described as in his 30s, 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighing about 180 pounds. The second man is about six feet tall, with a thin build, a beard and gray hair. Both are black, authorities said.

The bogus bomb was discovered in a news rack outside a Vons grocery store. The bomb squad found two road flares, a 9-volt battery and a stopwatch wrapped in black tape.

“It looked like a couple of sticks of dynamite,” said Ella James, who walked past the grocery store shortly after the device was discovered.

The supermarket and several stores on each side of the market were evacuated and closed for about an hour.