Local News in Brief : Tustin : 2nd Bank Customer Kidnaped in 2 Days

A second Tustin bank customer in as many days was robbed Thursday by a gunman who ordered his victim to drive him a short distance, then stole the car after releasing the owner, police said.

“We’re pretty sure it’s the same guy,” Tustin Police Lt. Robert Schoenkopf said.

Both victims, whom police would not identify, were unharmed after the brief kidnapings, both cars have been recovered and the robber is still at large.

On Thursday afternoon, just four blocks from where an identical robbery occurred 24 hours earlier, a gunman described as 25 to 30 years old approached a man as he left a Wells Fargo Bank branch at 14601 Red Hill Ave., police said.

The gunman demanded money and was given $206 in cash. The victim was ordered at gunpoint to drive the robber away from the scene.

Half a mile away, the victim was released “unharmed but shaken” and called police, Schoenkopf said.

“It sounds like a duplicate (robbery),” Schoenkopf said. The robber has “this thing that he does, and (he) does it well.”