Police looking for bank robber

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE — A man who entered a Bank of America, slipped a teller a threatening note and walked away with $14,000 on Monday eluded authorities, who combed the area without a description of the getaway vehicle.

As of Monday evening, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies continued to search for the suspect — described as Latino, about 5 feet 11 inches tall, in his late 20s or early 30s with a medium build and dark hair — who apparently drove away from the bank on Foothill Boulevard without witnesses seeing the vehicle.

At the time of the robbery he was wearing black pants and a black shirt, authorities said. He was also wearing a black baseball cap turned backward with “NYPD” on it.

The suspect entered the bank about 11 a.m., handed a bank teller a note saying he had a bomb and demanded cash, Sgt. Ray Harley said. No weapon was visible.

“He got some money and walked out of the bank,” Harley said.

Neither bank employees nor motorists in the parking lot saw which direction he headed.

Sheriff’s patrol cars and a helicopter blanketed the area immediately after the robbery, but the lack of a vehicle description hurt, Harley said. The bank remained closed for several hours Monday, and employees emerged at least once to turn away waiting customers.

Michael Stremfel, owner of an adjacent business, Flintridge Pharmacy & Medical Supply, said he didn’t realize anything was wrong until he saw the sheriff’s cars and heard the helicopter.

“I am over there every day,” Stremfel said of the bank. “I know all of those people. So I just went over there and confirmed that the door was locked.”

The most recent La Cañada bank robbery occurred Oct. 22 when two gun-wielding masked men entered the Chase bank in the 700 block of Foothill Boulevard and escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash.

And on Oct. 19, a man robbed a La Crescenta Citibank on Foothill Boulevard and made off with $5,000, officials said.