2 Bank Robbery Suspects Seized After Chase

Two bank robbery suspects were arrested Tuesday evening at a residence in El Sereno where they had holed up after leading police on a two-hour, three-county vehicular chase, investigators said.

Detectives said one of the suspects took an undetermined amount of cash from a Foothill Independent Bank branch in Rowland Heights about 11:15 a.m. after threatening a teller with what appeared to be a gun.

Officers, alerted by the bank, chased the suspects as they sped south in a white pickup truck on the San Gabriel River Freeway and the San Diego Freeway. The televised chase, broadcast live on several Southland stations, went as far south as Camp Pendleton in San Diego County before the suspects reversed their direction.

After heading back north through Orange County, the suspects turned onto surface streets before stopping near Norfolk and Tremont streets in El Sereno and running to a nearby residence, police said.

Officers surrounded the residence, cordoning off the area and holding students in the adjacent Murchison Street Elementary School until they could be released safely though a rear exit.

Finally, after a standoff of several hours, the suspects were arrested, police said. Details of the arrests and the identities of the suspects were not immediately made public.