Bank Robber Suspect Held After Standoff

A four-hour standoff with a suspected bank robber who claimed to have a bomb ended Tuesday when he surrendered to Los Angeles police, authorities said.

Curtis Barnes Yarbrough, 48, was arrested about 1 p.m. after barricading himself inside a van near a Bank of America branch in South Los Angeles, said Deputy Chief Earl Paysinger of the LAPD.

Yarbrough, who is on federal parole for bank robbery, “is no stranger to this kind of activity,” Paysinger said.

Police received a call at 9:18 a.m. that a man claiming to have an explosive device in a football-size bag was trying to rob the bank in the 8500 block of South Broadway, the LAPD said. The site is near the Harbor Freeway and Manchester Avenue.

Yarbrough, who had signed in for assistance at the bank, told the manager that he wanted $10,000 in $100 bills and that he had a bomb, said Laura Eimiller, an FBI spokeswoman.

When several employees confronted him, he ran from the bank to a post office parking lot across the street and barricaded himself inside the van, shoving aside the owner, who had been approaching, authorities said.

A SWAT team sent a robot equipped with a telephone-like device to the van and began negotiations.

Businesses within two blocks were evacuated, and about 80 children were removed from a nearby preschool, Paysinger said.

During the negotiations, Yarbrough asked to speak with his wife and other members of his family, but he surrendered before police could reach them, the deputy chief said.

At 1:20 p.m., members of the SWAT team escorted the man from the lot as two officers with rifles watched from a rooftop.

The bag did not contain an explosive, police said, and no money was taken from the bank.

Yarbrough is in FBI custody, and authorities are investigating whether he is connected to five other bank robberies.