Wearing a hockey mask and carrying a semi-automatic rifle, a man burst into a Santa Ana bank Tuesday morning and demanded all the customers drop to the ground before he forced workers to fill a garbage bag with cash.
U.S. Bank is offering a $10,000 reward in the hopes someone knows the two men involved in the violent heist at their branch office at 2740 N. Grand Ave.
It all happened within a span of a few minutes soon after the bank opened for business Tuesday.
A man wearing a white hockey mask and a dark, hooded sweatshirt entered the bank pointing his semi-automatic handgun, initially at the customers. He told them to lie on the floor.
“As soon as the customers complied, he then directed all of his attention towards the tellers, grabbed a trash bag from with inside the bank, and then ordered them to start putting money into the bag,” said Sgt. Jose Gonzalez, with the Santa Ana Police Department.
No one was hurt.
The masked man and a second man, possibly a lookout, ran west across the bank parking lot and into an apartment complex. Witnesses chased after the pair, helping police follow their trail, which was dotted with cash, but they escaped.
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"The money has since been recovered," Gonzalez said.
There was no sign of a getaway car, though the bank is next to what police called an easy escape route: the 22 Freeway at Grand Avenue.
The heist was captured by several security cameras.
Although the robber’s identity was largely concealed by a mask, hood and long-sleeved sweatshirt, at one point, his hoodie slipped off his arm.
The robber and his possible accomplice are described as black males, between 5 feet 8 inches and 6 feet tall with thin builds. Both were wearing masks at the time.
Bank officials said the robber made off with “a substantial amount of cash.” The heist does not appear to be connected to any others.
Anyone with information is asked to call Orange County Crime Stoppers at 1-855-TIP-OCCS
