Police Pursue, Catch Pair Suspected in Bank Holdups

They may have gone to the bank one too many times.

Two alleged bank robbers were arrested Tuesday after a 20-mile chase over surface streets after a holdup at the Home Savings Bank branch in the 300 block of South Maclay Avenue.

Police believe the same men robbed the same bank on two earlier occasions in the past year.

About 1 p.m., police received a call from someone outside the bank reporting that two armed men had just entered the bank and pulled ski masks over their faces, said San Fernando Police Lt. Robert Ordelheide.

The men, whose names were not immediately made public, allegedly took over the bank and escaped with an undisclosed amount of money from the vault. Officers in unmarked cars arrived in time to see the two pull away in a Toyota minivan, Ordelheide said.

Two unmarked cars followed the pair to an intersection several blocks away, where the robbers in the two earlier holdups had dumped getaway cars.

“We knew exactly where to go,” said Ordelheide.

The pair got out of their initial getaway car, which later proved to be stolen, and switched to a Ford Expedition, police said.

Police then confronted the men, but they sped off. Officers gave chase with the assistance of an LAPD helicopter.

The men’s vehicle broadsided a car at Bartee Avenue and Van Nuys Boulevard, but they were able to continue driving. The chase finally ended in a Marshall’s department store parking lot in Northridge, where they surrendered, said Ordelheide.

The method of operation, suspect and vehicle descriptions from the earlier two robberies matched this one exactly, he said.

“It was their bank,” said Ordelheide. “They were just withdrawing.”

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Bank Robbery Roster

Bank robberies in Southern California have declined by 75% since hitting a record high in 1992. These figures include Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

1992: 2,641

1998: 656

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Source: FBI