Fake Bomb Used During 6-Figure Robbery at Bank in Laguna Hills

A middle-aged man in a business suit carried what he said was a bomb into a Laguna Hills bank Thursday, ordered the manager to take him to the vault and fled with hundreds of thousands of dollars, authorities said. One investigator said it was “one of the larger” Orange County holdups in recent years.

The Security Pacific National Bank branch at 24211 Paseo de Valencia was hastily evacuated, and members of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department hazardous devices squad were called to the scene. But the bomb turned out to be highway flares wrapped in cord, Sheriff’s Lt. Richard J. Olson said.

The Sheriff’s Department and FBI are investigating the robbery.

FBI spokesman Fred Reagan said the loss was “substantial” but refused to divulge an exact figure, saying it is against agency policy to release such information. Reagan said, however, that no safe-deposit boxes were looted.

One investigator, who refused to be identified, estimated that the money taken was “in the low six figures” and described the robbery as “very slick.”

Authorities said a man about 45 years old and dressed in a gray business suit entered the bank at 12:15 p.m.

He sat at the manager’s desk, a package in his lap, and said, “ ‘I have an explosive device here,’ ” Reagan said. “The implication was that he was going to set it off if they didn’t cooperate.”

The bandit displayed a handgun and demanded to be taken to the bank’s vault, Reagan said. He was accompanied to the vault by a bank employee. Reagan said the robber also “cleaned out a couple of teller drawers” on his way out.

It was not clear how long the robber was inside the bank. He left the package behind.

By 4 p.m., after clearing employees and customers out of the building, the sheriff’s bomb squad determined that the package did not contain a bomb.

Olson said no vehicle was seen or heard leaving the branch. Reagan said he could not respond to questions about a possible getaway car.

The robber had dark hair and a mustache, Olson said. Reagan said witnesses described him as Caucasian, about 6-foot-3 or -4 and of heavy build.

He said he did not know whether bank employees were able to trigger any silent alarms and would not know until today whether hidden cameras had been activated.