2 Robbers Hold Up Bank at Gunpoint

Two men robbed an American Commercial Bank branch of a small amount of cash Wednesday.

The takeover-style robbery occurred about 3 p.m. at 2245 Ventura Blvd. in Camarillo, Sheriff’s Sgt. Jesse Howe said.

Eight employees and at least two customers were in the bank when the holdup occurred, authorities said. No one was injured, said bank President Jerry Lukiewski.

One robber wore a ski mask and carried a handgun and the other wore sunglasses, deputies said. The robbers ordered the employees and customers to lie on the floor.

The robbers fled in a green Ford Explorer that had been reported stolen in Hawthorne, Sheriff’s Capt. Keith Parks said.

They abandoned the Explorer a couple of blocks from the bank, Parks said.

Dozens of deputies searched streets surrounding the bank, but there had been no arrests as of Wednesday night.

A bank surveillance tape was being studied Wednesday night to see if the men could be identified, FBI agents said.

Hawthorne police have given sheriff’s deputies the names of two suspects in the vehicle theft case. Those men could be responsible for the bank robbery, Parks said.

Lukiewski said that sheriff’s deputies staged a mock robbery at the Camarillo bank branch in December to train employees how to behave during a robbery.