Van Nuys Bank Robbery Suspect Arrested

Much went wrong for an alleged bank robber Saturday: First, his booby-trapped pouch of pilfered money exploded in his pocket and stained the bills with dye. Then, police found him cowering in a nearby back yard, authorities said.

Police said Joseph Wallace, 39, of Los Angeles walked into Glendale Federal Bank at Sepulveda Boulevard and Vose Street about 11:30 a.m. and confronted a teller with what Wallace claimed was a bomb. Actually, it was a radio scanner wrapped in a towel, Los Angeles Police Sgt. Paul McMillin said.

Bank employees handed over a pouch of money that had been booby-trapped to spew dye, and the robber fled down Vose Street followed by a security guard, McMillin said. The guard lost sight of the robber after three blocks, but soon police arrived with search dogs and found a man hiding in the back yard of a nearby home, McMillin said.

Wallace was booked on suspicion of robbery and taken to County-USC Medical Center for treatment of an undisclosed medical condition unrelated to his arrest, McMillin said.