OC Bank Teller Kidnapped, Forced to Rob Bank

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- A man kidnapped an off-duty bank teller from her home at gunpoint Tuesday and forced her to drive him to an Anaheim bank and steal an undisclosed amount of money before he fled the area on foot, police said.

The teller, a pregnant woman in her 20s, was at home on her day off when a man knocked on her door around 1:30 p.m. and pointed a gun at her, according to Sgt. Rick Martinez of the Anaheim Police Department.

"He tells her that he knows where she works at and then orders her to drive him here to this bank, where he is going to have her take the money," Martinez told KABC-TV. "They both get in her car. He is still armed with the handgun. He commands her to park in the back. Once he gets here, he makes her go inside the bank where he has, or she has access to the money."

The woman went into the Bank of the West branch near Orange Avenue and Brookhurst Streets, but before she walked out, she alerted another employee about what had happened, Martinez told the station.

The teller walked outside and handed the man the money, and he fled on foot through an alley.

The kidnapper was described as a man in his 40s or 50s, about 5-foot-7 or 5-foot-8 and about 170 pounds.

It was unclear why the teller walked out of the bank with the money, but Martinez said police were still talking to her.

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"It's obvious based on her statement ... that he knows where she lives," Martinez said. "He's armed with a handgun so there's some sort of a threat there."

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