Man Escapes on Foot After Robbing Bank

A man claiming to have a gun robbed a Thousand Oaks bank Friday, then fled on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash, police said. The robber was still at large late Friday.

The bandit walked into Hawthorne Savings at 973 S. Westlake Blvd. and handed a teller a note reading, “This is a robbery. I have a gun,” according to officials.

He was last seen running south across Agoura Road through parking lots and private property, said Ventura County Senior Sheriff’s Deputy Harold Hanley.

No one was hurt in the 11:15 a.m. robbery. Several employees and two customers were in the bank at the time.

None of the bank’s customers or employees saw a weapon, Hanley said.

It is the second bank robbery in Thousand Oaks in the past week. On Feb. 11, three men stormed into the Bank of America on Hillcrest Drive and escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash. Those men and a fourth man who drove the getaway car are still at large.

There does not appear to be any connection between the two robberies or the recent attacks on banks in Agoura Hills, police said.

The incident is the fourth Ventura County bank robbery this year. There were 12 bank robberies in the county during 1999.

The suspect was described as a white male in his 20s with red hair and a medium build. Witnesses told police that he wore sunglasses, a gray and green plaid flannel shirt and jeans.

Police dusted for fingerprints and interviewed employees. A block away, police detained a man thought to be the suspect, then let him go.