Bank Theft Suspect Crashes Into Car, Killing Its Driver

A 74-year-old woman on her way to a synagogue was killed and two of her elderly passengers were injured Thursday when a bank robbery suspect fleeing Beverly Hills police crashed head-on into their car, authorities said.

Two suspects were arrested and a third man remains at large, Beverly Hills Police Lt. Frank Salcido said. Both suspects were charged with armed robbery, he said.

Although only one of the suspects was in the car when it hit the woman’s vehicle, all three can be charged with murder because the victim was killed during the commission of a felony, Salcido said.

The elderly driver, who was not identified pending notification of relatives, was pronounced dead at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, said Paula Correia, a hospital spokeswoman. One passenger, an 89-year-old woman, was in serious condition at the hospital with several broken bones. The other, a 90-year-old woman, remains hospitalized in good condition with cuts and bruises, Correia said.

A pregnant bank teller also was taken to the hospital after the robbery, complaining of cramps. She was treated and released, Correia said.

The incident began Thursday morning when two men held up Sanwa Bank in the 9100 block of Olympic Boulevard in Beverly Hills, Salcido said. The robbers took an undisclosed amount of cash and ran out to a car, where a driver was waiting for them.

Responding to the bank’s silent alarm, police confronted the men as they left.

One suspect fled on foot, running north toward Wilshire Boulevard, and is still at large.

A second suspect, Derril Antoine Miles, 19, of Los Angeles, jumped out of the car as the driver sped away. Miles escaped initially, but police arrested him a few hours later near Wilshire.

The driver raced east on Olympic in a silver, two-door Toyota Celica, Salcido said.

Three police vehicles followed the car for about 1 1/2 miles, the chase reaching speeds up to 50 mph, police estimated. Officers were about 100 to 150 yards behind the speeding car when it reached Olympic and La Cienega boulevards in Los Angeles, seven blocks beyond the Beverly Hills city limits, Salcido said.

The suspect hit the victim’s Toyota Corolla head-on while she was waiting to make a left turn.

At the scene of the accident, police arrested the driver, Glenn Maurice Young, 24, of Chino. He sustained only minor injuries, police said.

“As with any incident like this, we are reviewing the pursuit to make sure it was within police policy,” Salcido said.

Police cordoned off a four-block neighborhood south of Olympic looking for the suspect who had escaped. With the help of Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies, officers spent almost six hours searching the area with police dogs. The effort was called off late in the afternoon.

Police said they recovered a portion of the money stolen from the bank.

Times staff writer Miles Corwin contributed to this story.