Spur of the Moment Hero Catches Robbery Suspect

The minute the bank teller screamed and the man took off running, Edward Lees knew it was a botched holdup. But rather than run for cover, Lees ran after the suspect.

Lees impulsively chased George Lawrence Allen out of the Bank of Hollywood, down the block and trapped him inside a parked taxi with the help of bystanders.

Little did this citizen-turned-do-gooder know last Friday that he caught a convicted three-strikes criminal who had escaped from custody nearly two weeks earlier during his robbery trial.

“Something went off in my mind. I’m tired of scumbag criminals,” said Lees, 36, who works across the street from the bank in front of Mann’s Chinese Theatre, handing out free passes to television shows. “I was thinking, ‘How can I help? What can I do?’ ”

Today, Allen is back behind bars. The district attorney’s office filed three new charges against him Monday--one for attempted robbery of the Hollywood bank, a second for the robbery of a Van Nuys bank and the other for escaping from custody.

Allen escaped from the Santa Monica courthouse Aug. 7 during a recess in his trial on robbery charges.

He somehow opened a holding cell door, made his way through an empty courtroom, down a hall filled with jurors assigned to his case and out the front door.

The trial continued in his absence and the jury convicted him on nine robbery charges Thursday, a day before his alleged robbery attempt at the Hollywood bank.

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Back at the movie theater, Lees’ co-workers were calling his actions everything from heroic to crazy.

“I think he did a brave thing,” said Rick Resnick, who hands out television passes for a rival company. “I don’t know if it was the smartest thing.”

Resnick put his hand on Lees’ shoulder and quipped: “It was nice to have him gone for an hour and a half so we could sign up more people.”

Bank of Hollywood executives were taking a far more cautious tone, saying they did not want to encourage anyone to take the law into their own hands.

“I guess it was heroic, but it was awfully lucky that it turned out good,” said bank President Terry Jorgensen. “You never know today when people are berserk. It’s better to let the police handle these things.”

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Jorgensen said the bank’s board of directors would discuss a possible reward when it meets next Tuesday.

Lees did not expect to find himself in the middle of a crime when he walked into the bank Friday to get cash on his credit card.

Lees was conducting his transaction when he heard a teller about 20 feet away scream and saw Allen run by him.

Allen, who had passed the teller a note demanding money, did not appear to have a gun.

In an instant, Lees turned--leaving his own transaction unfinished--and ran after Allen out the back of the bank.

Lees followed Allen to Hollywood Boulevard, passed the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and an outdoor cafe with patrons sipping cappuccino at tables with green umbrellas, all the while yelling, “Help me! That guy robbed the bank!”

Allen dashed in and out of the Johnny Grant building--which houses the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and the Hollywood offices of the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency--and into a parked cab.

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At that point, a tourist--an off-duty police officer from Ohio--emerged from a souvenir shop, Lees recalled.

Along with the cabdriver and a fourth bystander, Lees managed to trap Allen inside the cab until an officer arrived to make the arrest.

“I don’t know if it was a dumb thing to do, but it was just something inside,” Lees said of the encounter, which lasted about five minutes.

“This guy was committing a crime and I just had to do something.”

None of the other citizens involved in the incident could be reached for comment. But Lees’ boss at Audience Associates in Hollywood had nothing but praise for his employee.

“It’s really in his character. When he does something, he does it 100%,” Cash Oshman said of Lees.

“The planet could use more people doing that. I’m not trying to hype him up. He really is that kind of person.”