Robbers Hit 3 Banks; Police Arrest 2 Suspects

Robbers struck Tuesday at three Orange County banks, including one in Placentia where the heist went awry and led to the arrest of two suspects, authorities said.

The Placentia robbery attempt occurred shortly before 7 a.m. when three men approached a California State Bank branch and tried to force their way inside as employees were opening for business, Police Sgt. Ken Gardner said.

Gardner said the robbers--one of whom fired a shot as he fled--were frightened away by customers arriving at the bank in the 100 block of East Yorba Linda Avenue. A customer followed the suspects’ Ford Mustang and notified police of the license plate number, Gardner said. Police found a gun near the bank.

Kevin Rondrae Hicks, 23, of Pasadena, and Jeffery Deshawn Halthon, 24, of Los Angeles were arrested a short time later after a La Palma police officer heard a countywide alert and stopped their car on the Artesia Freeway in Cerritos. A third man remained at large Tuesday, Gardner said.

The second robbery occurred about 10:40 a.m. at a Downey Savings & Loan Assn. branch at Brookhurst Street and Adams Avenue in Huntington Beach , Police Lt. Jim Cutshaw said.

A man in his 30s handed a teller a note stating he had a gun and demanding money. He left with an undisclosed amount, police said. He was described as Latino, 5 foot 7, 180 pounds, with dark hair, a mustache and eyeglasses. He was wearing a black sport coat, a light shirt and dark pants.

Five hours later, a man waving a gun walked into an American Savings Bank branch in the 16900 block of Algonquin Street in Huntington Beach. The man, described as white, 5 foot 10, of medium build, with brown hair and a curly dark beard, wore a heavy white shirt, blue jeans and a hunter’s cap with its flaps over his ears.

The man demanded money from the bank’s tellers, then dropped about two-thirds of it on the floor on his way out. Cutshaw said the man did not stop to pick up the cash and fled on foot.