SIMI VALLEY : Authorities Seek Man in Bank Holdup

The FBI and Simi Valley police are trying to identify a man who Monday held up a Bank of America branch that has been robbed at least twice in the past year.

The latest holdup occurred about 10:15 a.m. when a man showed a handgun to a teller at the bank on Los Angeles Avenue, Simi Valley Police Detective Tom Marshall said.

The robber told the teller to back away from the counter, making it impossible for the bank employee to push an alarm button, Marshall said.

After the teller handed the man an undisclosed amount of cash, the robber walked quickly toward the exit and was almost out the door by the time the alarm sounded, the detective said.

Marshall said no other employees or customers in the bank had been aware of the robbery while it was in progress.

At the same time the alarm sounded, the bank’s camera began snapping photos of the area near the exit. But Marshall said police and the FBI were not yet sure whether the camera got any pictures of the robber, who fled on foot.

The bank in the 5800 block of Los Angeles Avenue near Yosemite Avenue was also robbed in September and in October, 1993.

“It seems to get hit more than any other bank in the city,” Marshall said.

The bank may be a favorite target because it is close to a residential neighborhood, where robbers are able to park their cars away from public areas, Marshall said.

“It has an escape route,” he said. “They’ll walk in and they’ll walk out. Then they’ll get in their car and drive away.”