Robber Kidnaps Bank Customer

A masked robber carrying two firearms robbed a Great Western Bank branch Tuesday and kidnapped a woman customer to help him get away, authorities said.

The woman was released unharmed a short time later, said Lt. John Crabb of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lancaster station.

Crabb said the robber, armed with a shotgun and pistol, entered the branch in the 1200 block of Avenue P near the Antelope Valley Mall at about 11 a.m. and ordered bank employees and customers to the floor.

He then took an undetermined amount of cash from several drawers and grabbed the woman, forcing her to drive him in her car a short distance to the mall, where he ran off with her purse.

The woman then drove to 30th Street West and Rancho Vista Boulevard, where she called the sheriff’s station. She said she last saw the bandit running south across the mall parking lot toward Avenue P, Crabb said.

Sheriff’s ground and air crews aided by canine units searched the area but could not find the man, authorities said. The crews, however, did find the woman’s purse in the nearby bed of Armagosa Creek.

Witnesses told deputies they saw two men coming from the creek bed, authorities said. The pair were arrested on outstanding warrants but it had not been determined if they were connected to the robbery.