Thin White Thief

On Friday, May 22, according to county sheriffs’ radio traffic at about 11:50 a.m., the sheriff’s department received a call on a bank robbery in progress at the Citibank located at 13408 Poway Road.

The bank teller was given a demand note by a male who wore all black and a golf hat. The teller then handed $2000 to the thief, who then fled the bank to a waiting new, black Jaguar sedan occupied by a female passenger.

The bank manager followed the thief outside and was able to provide authorities with a last-known direction of travel and a description of the perpetrator: a thin, white male with brown hair in his early 20s.

At about 12:15 p.m., sheriff’s deputies located the suspect vehicle traveling southbound on SR-67 from Poway Road. The deputies were unsuccessful at pulling the vehicle over and pursued southbound on the 67 toward Lakeside.

The sheriff’s department broadcast a “Be On Lookout” advisory to other enforcement agencies. One of the sheriff’s ASTREA helicopters and CHP officers assisted in the pursuit. Deputies later deployed a spike strip, disabling at least one of suspect’s tires.

The vehicle stopped after crashing into a chainlink fence off Willow Road and Moreno Avenue in Lakeside. Both suspects fled on foot, with deputies in pursuit.

The sheriff’s helicopter soon located the two suspects hunkered down in a shed on a nearby property. Both suspects were taken into custody, and the witnesses were able to do a curbside lineup and identify the pair.

An undisclosed amount of money was recovered from both suspects. The teller was unharmed but badly shaken, according to a sheriff’s lieutenant.