Suspects toss cash from a sport utility vehicle during a pursuit that began after a bank robbery in the Santa Clarita area on Sept. 12, 2012. Raw Video.
Police on Wednesday were asking the public for help in identifying a woman in a green jacket who hopped into a pursuit suspect's vehicle, appeared to take something then disappeared among a crowd that had gathered moments after the chase ended in South LA. The woman was captured by NBC4's cameras. During the chase, suspects threw wads of cash out of the window of their Volvo SUV during the pursuit. Gordon Tokumatsu reports from South LA for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on Sept. 12, 2012.
Authorities are counting the cash returned after bank robbery suspects tossed money out a vehicle's windows during a pursuit Wednesday that ended in South Los Angeles. Toni Guinyard reports from Monterey Park for the NBC4 News at noon on Thursday Sept. 13, 2012.
Three men were charged Friday in a bank heist that led to a pursuit during which cash was thrown from the vehicle and bystanders rushed into the street to collect the flying money.
The suspects were identified as Phillip Ely, 29, Lavelle Mosley, 22, and Terion Lamarr Collins, 25. They were arraigned Friday afternoon in San Fernando Superior Court.
A criminal complaint alleges the men are gang members and all three were charged with four counts of second-degree robbery and one count of kidnapping to commit another crime. The kidnapping charge was for the allegation that the trio held people against their will inside the bank, said Los Angeles County District Attorney spokeswoman Jane Robison.
Ely also is charged with evading an officer and auto theft with prior convictions.
Prosecutors asked that bail for all three be set at more than $1 million.
Police are still looking for a fourth person individual -- one of two suspects that fled from the getaway vehicle in the Sylmar area, according to authorities.
The men are accused of robbing a Canyon Country Bank of America Wednesday morning. During a getaway and a pursuit that lasted an hour, cash was thrown from the suspects' vehicle and bystanders ran into streets to collect money (video below).
The pursuit ended in South LA when the suspects were blocked in by several vehicles at an intersection. A crowd gathered at the intersection as officers took the suspects into custody.
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