Worker next door hurt in bank heist
A receptionist at an Irvine health center was shot in the back Friday by a police bullet that pierced the building’s wall after wounding a fleeing bank robbery suspect outside, authorities said.
The 46-year-old woman, whose name was not released, was in stable condition at a Santa Ana hospital Friday night while the suspect -- Ramin Pirbazari, 24, of Irvine -- was arrested and treated for a gunshot wound to his wrist.
“This was certainly a serious event,” police spokesman Lt. Rick Handfield said of the shooting shortly after 11 a.m. in the parking lot of the Hoag Health Center on Barranca Avenue. “Irvine officers pride themselves on a long history of being safe, but we sometimes don’t have any option on where an event will take place.”
Police received a 911 call from the Wells Fargo Bank adjacent to the health center; the caller said a man with a knife was robbing the bank.
Two plainclothes detectives were dispatched to wait in the parking lot. When the suspect came out, Handfield said, they attempted to take him into custody and fired at least one shot after the suspect “continued to resist orders and fled on foot.”
Pirbazari was arrested a short distance away.
The shooting was under investigation by the Orange County district attorney’s office, Handfield said, and details on why the suspect was shot were not available.
The wounded receptionist was taken to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana. “My understanding is that [the victim] is doing well,” said Debra Legan, a spokeswoman for Hoag Hospital.
After the shooting, Hoag Health Center was closed for the day.
“All the physicians canceled their appointments and the building was locked,” Legan said, adding that social workers were on hand to provide counseling and support for employees.
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