LONG BEACH : 3 to Be Arraigned Today in Bank Robbery, Siege
Three suspected robbers who held a Long Beach bank under siege for nine hours Wednesday while four female bank employees hid inside face arraignment today on felony robbery charges, police said.
Marcus Young, 18, of Los Angeles and two teen-agers were found hiding in air-conditioning ducts or on a ventilation shaft about 9 p.m. Wednesday, Officer Margarita DeWitt said. The four hostages had locked themselves safely in the vault during the incident and were rescued by a Long Beach SWAT team using flash-bang grenades to storm the bank at 5:45 p.m.
Police believe that Young and the two youths, who are 16 and 17, vaulted bank tellers’ counters about noon Wednesday, beginning a standoff that lasted until after 9 p.m. and virtually shut down the bustling business district at Pacific Coast Highway and Ximeno Avenue.
Young is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail and the teen-agers, whose names were not released because of their ages, are in a juvenile hall, DeWitt said. All three are from Los Angeles.
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