Armed Robbers Seize Valley Bank

In the fifth robbery of a financial institution in the San Fernando Valley in 10 days, three robbers toting semiautomatic weapons stormed a Bank of America branch Thursday, taking about 30 adults and children hostage and firing a burst of shots before fleeing with a suitcase full of cash.

There were no injuries in the 10 a.m. holdup.

Several customers said the masked robbers dashed into the branch at 7255 Woodman Ave. with their weapons slung on their shoulders, wearing black clothing including oversize lightweight jackets.

They quickly leveled their rifles at the tellers and customers.

“They said, ‘Everyone drop to the f------ ground. If you get up, I’ll kill you,’ ” said bank customer Eugene Carter. Everybody obeyed amid the screams and crying of frightened children, he said, as one of the gunmen shot at a security door between the customers and tellers. Police speculated they were warning shots.

The gunmen cursed and yelled at the children to be quiet, witnesses and police said. At one point, a father put a hand over his child’s mouth to quiet it, they said.

About two dozen cartridge casings were found by the door, but police did not say what caliber weapon was used.

“We’re talking about some very dangerous people here with no qualms about using high-powered weapons,” said Los Angeles Police Sgt. Joseph Brazas. “This one today could have gone sideways so early . . . it could have been a very, very bad situation. Those people were lucky.”

Following the morning holdup, as bank employees and customers slowly emerged from the bank with arms raised under police supervision--a scene broadcast live by local television stations--three African American customers were told to drop to the ground by police with guns drawn.

For about a minute, the two men and woman were face down on the pavement, arms and legs spread. They were then identified by the bank manager as customers and released to join the rest of the witnesses.

The officers at the door were unsure whether the three were suspects or customers because the preliminary descriptions of the gunmen identified them as black, police said.

“They didn’t know whether they were bank employees, customers or bad guys,” Brazas said.

The suspects, who fled in a waiting car, could be the same men who have robbed other L.A. financial institutions recently, said FBI spokesman John Hoos.

In the first of the string of Valley holdups, three men robbed the MCA/Universal Studios credit union April 23.

The next day, gunmen narrowly escaped being shot by undercover police of the elite Metro Squad staking out banks in the West San Fernando Valley. The robbers fled on foot across the Ventura Freeway after holding up a Woodland Hills bank, pursued by the undercover officers.

Last Friday, a teachers’ credit union in Van Nuys was hit. On Monday, two men were arrested on suspicion of robbing a Bank of America branch in Canoga Park.

“They just don’t hit one bank, they are career criminals,” Hoos said, adding that about 80% of Los Angeles bank robbers are gang members. “The best advice for anyone caught inside is to do exactly what they say. Don’t try to be a hero.”

In Thursday’s holdup, the bank’s two guards both left as the robbers burst in and then called police on 911 from a pay phone, which bank executives said was within bank policy.

The robbers retrieved cash from the vault with a black and purple suitcase, witnesses said.

“When I looked up I saw the suitcase . . . “ said Roston Ambartsumyan of North Hollywood. “The bag was so heavy that he [one of the robbers] was pulling it on the ground.”

Several people waiting outside for customers in the bank heard the shots fired at the security door.

Dara Pin, waiting for his wife and two children, ran to the bank door. “I saw people on the floor,” he said. “When I saw it I closed the door; I ran back in the car.”

He sat in the car with his 6-year-old son, “scared for my child and my wife,” he said.

A crowd that included some family members of tellers and customers gathered in the shopping center across from the bank.

Arthur Agirian, whose 25-year-old daughter, Diane Gayan, is a teller there, rushed to the bank from his North Hollywood home after seeing TV news reports. This was the second bank holdup for his daughter in five years, he said.

Aran Taschian of Van Nuys, who was waiting in his car while his 76-year-old father cashed a check, said he saw the three robbers enter with guns.

“They just stepped inside and started shooting,” he said.

Taschian drove across the parking lot to Thrifty Drug Store, where he told store employees to call police.

“I was shaking and just scared for my father,” he said.

Several people escaped the bank as the gunmen stormed in. “As soon as I saw them, I ran out the door,” said Bruce Wulach of Van Nuys.

Bank executives said crisis counselors were sent to the branch to meet with employees. They added that banks are generally safe and that security is constantly being reevaluated and reinforced.

“Using banks is not like skydiving,” said Leland Chan, the associate counsel for the California Bankers Assn. in San Francisco. “It’s not a dangerous activity.”

Times staff writer Beth Shuster contributed to this story.