Suspect in Arcadia Bank Robbery Apprehended

A 27-year-old parolee was arrested Saturday morning in Van Nuys for allegedly robbing a Wells Fargo Bank branch inside an Arcadia supermarket, police said.

Ali James Cooper of Palmdale was taken into custody without incident about 11:30 a.m. outside the Townhouse Motel on Sepulveda Boulevard, police said.

The bank robbery took place Friday afternoon in a Ralphs supermarket on Foothill Boulevard, police said. Officers spotted a suspect leaving the scene in a vehicle at high speed. They gave chase and cornered him in a nearby cul de sac. The suspect jumped out of his car and ran into a nearby backyard, and the officers soon lost track of him. The thief made off with about $140,000.

Arcadia detectives identified Cooper as a suspect and traced him to the motel, which they placed under surveillance. Some time later, they observed Cooper standing outside the motel talking on a cellular phone, and they moved to detain him. An undetermined amount of the stolen money was recovered when Cooper was arrested, police said.

Cooper was being held without bail in Arcadia city jail on suspicion of bank robbery, said Arcadia Police Sgt. Randy Kirby. He also was being held on suspicion of committing an unrelated residential burglary and for violations of his parole.