4 Men Held in Bank Robbery; Money Recovered

Authorities recovered all the money stolen in a bank robbery, and four suspects were captured after a search that lasted several hours.

Darrell McKnight, 18, Antoine Field, 20, and Shawn Yarborough, 19, all of Los Angeles, were booked on suspicion of armed robbery Tuesday night and held on $50,000 bail, said Lt. Gary Gallinot of the Santa Monica Police Department.

The fourth suspect, Robert Ruffin, 22, also of Los Angeles, was denied bail because of a parole violation.

About 11 a.m. Tuesday, three masked men held up the City National Bank in the 1800 Block of Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica, Gallinot said.

Two men held customers at bay with handguns, he said, as a third vaulted the counter and robbed the tellers of an undisclosed amount of money.

Witnesses saw the three men join a fourth who waiting in a car. The suspects were involved in a hit-and-run accident several blocks away and piled into a nearby car.

That car, a four-door gray sedan, was seen several minutes later speeding south on the San Diego Freeway.

Santa Monica police chased the suspects into Westchester, where the driver lost control turning a corner. One suspect was taken into custody immediately. The others ran away.

Dozens of Los Angeles, Santa Monica and Culver City police cordoned off an 18-block area and began a house-to-house search.

Several hours later, a second man was captured by a canine team in the rear of a house. The remaining two suspects were caught separately soon after. One was detained while trying to walk past the police perimeter. The other was found hiding in a water heater shed.