SANTA ANA, California: A man who robbed a Southern California bank and took three people hostage had walked out of prison a day earlier, federal prosecutors said this week.
Investigators stated that on May 8, the 53-year-old man, who claimed to have a gun, jumped over the teller counter and began stuffing cash in his pockets at a BMO bank in Anaheim. He was indicted on robbery charges.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the man ordered the bank manager and two other employees into a storage room during the holdup. The suspect was arrested at the scene after another employee called the police.
“One day after his release from prison, this defendant allegedly chose to return to crime by taking three victims hostage while he robbed a bank,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in the statement, reported by The Associated Press. The defendant had been released from San Quentin on May 7, but there were no details of his previous incarceration.
Prosecutors said the suspect fought with police officers and tried to escape from the hospital, where he was undergoing a scan after his arrest at the bank.
He was ordered held without bond pending arraignment on June 24.
He could face up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted.
