Police seek three men after Lake Forest bank robbery
Sheriff's Department officials are particularly concerned about the group's tendency toward 'needless violence' after a teller was pistol-whipped.
Authorities are still searching for three men suspected of robbing a Lake Forest Bank of America on Monday morning, where one man pistol-whipped a teller.
The men, wearing disguises including a blond wig, a Halloween mask and a straw hat, took over the bank branch in the 22000 block of El Toro Road about 9:15 a.m., said Orange County Sheriff's Lt. Fred Furey.
The robbers forced bank customers to the floor, causing a pregnant woman there to go into false labor, Furey said.
The group attempted unsuccessfully to get to the bank's main vault, and instead took money from the tellers' cash drawers.
Sheriff's Department officials were particularly concerned about the group's tendency toward "needless violence," which included cracking a cooperative male teller over the back of the head with a handgun, Furey said.
"We're doing as much of the media outreach as possible before future incidents that could involve escalating violence," he said. The bank employee was treated at a hospital and released.
The group abandoned its stolen getaway vehicle, a white GMC Jimmy sport utility vehicle with a switched license plate, a short distance from the bank. One suspect's straw hat was found in the truck, Furey said. Authorities believe the three men most likely fled in another vehicle.
The Orange County Sheriff's Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation are conducting a joint investigation; anyone with information on the incident is asked to call Sheriff's Department officials at (714) 628-7170.
Rosenblatt is a Times staff writer.
susannah.rosenblatt@latimes.com
