2 Parolees Are Arrested in Holdup of Van Nuys Bank
Two men walked out of a Van Nuys bank with $1,000 Wednesday, got into their car and began to drive away.
They were home free--for about five minutes.
For the record:
12:00 a.m. Feb. 17, 1996 For the Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday February 17, 1996 Valley Edition Metro Part B Page 2 No Desk 1 inches; 25 words Type of Material: Correction
Bank robbery--A story in Thursday’s Times incorrectly reported the location of a Ventura Boulevard bank that was robbed by two men Wednesday. The bank is situated in Sherman Oaks.
Then, Culver City police detectives, who had trailed the men from West Los Angeles on a tip that one man had been robbing people, swooped down and arrested the pair.
The suspects, John Marquez and Karl Davis of West Los Angeles, used no weapons in the robbery, but passed a bank teller a handwritten note on a white envelope, detectives said.
The note said only, “This is a robbery,” according to police.
No injuries were reported.
Marquez is suspected of robbing three other Los Angeles County banks, getting only a relatively small amount of cash, police said. Each time, he quietly passed a note on a white envelope to a teller, police said.
The FBI had dubbed Marquez “the white envelope robber” and said it has been investigating him for weeks.
Both Marquez and Davis were on parole from a state prison, and between them had committed dozens of robberies, according to Culver City Det. Dave Tankenson. There was also a warrant for Marquez’s arrest for parole violation, Tankenson said.
Culver City detectives began tailing Marquez on Monday after an informant told them that Marquez had been robbing pedestrians, businesses and banks in the Culver City area, police said. Wednesday morning, Davis visited Marquez at his home and the two drove to a Sanwa Bank California in the 15000 block of Ventura Boulevard in Van Nuys, authorities said.
Marquez was inside for about two minutes, police said.
Police said Marquez then left, holding an envelope and walking slowly toward a car where Davis waited.
A flurry of activity inside the bank alerted stakeout detectives that a crime may have occurred, police said. Police approached the bank to investigate as employees were locking the front doors.
As the getaway car stopped for traffic nearby on Ventura Boulevard at Columbus Avenue, the detectives closed in and arrested Marquez and Davis without incident, police said.
Bail for Davis was set at $35,000 and Marquez was held without bail, police said.
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