3 Robbers Storm Valley Bank, Fire Burst of Shots

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 young children hostage and firing a burst of shots before fleeing with a suitcase full of cash.

Several customers said the masked robbers, who have not been caught, burst into the branch at 7255 Woodman Ave. with their weapons slung on their shoulders, wearing black clothing including oversized lightweight jackets.

They quickly pointed their rifles at the tellers and customers.

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

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

After the 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 one 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 of the bank were unsure whether the three were suspects or customers because the preliminary descriptions of the gunmen identified them as black, police said.

The robbers, who fled in a waiting car, could be the same men who have held up other Los Angeles banks recently, said FBI spokesman John Hoos.

In the first of the string of Valley bank heists, 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, pursued by the undercover officers, after holding up a Woodland Hills bank.

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 of an undisclosed amount of cash.

“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.”

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

The robbers put cash from the vault in 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.”

The crowd that gathered in the shopping center across from the bank included some relatives of tellers and customers.

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. It 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 a Thrifty drugstore, where he told store employees to call police.

Bank executives said crisis counselors were sent to the branch to meet with employees, but 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.