THOUSAND OAKS : Man Escapes After Bank Robbery

A clean-shaven man wearing khaki trousers and a polo shirt robbed the Bank of A. Levy in Thousand Oaks on Tuesday and escaped on foot despite the quick arrival of sheriff’s deputies, authorities said.

Witnesses told investigators that the robber entered the bank at 137 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd. around 10:50 a.m. and handed a teller a note demanding cash and saying he had a gun. After the teller gave him the money, the man left and was last seen running east down the street.

Deputies arrived three minutes after bank employees triggered a silent alarm, but did not find the man, Sheriff’s Sgt. Steven M. Bourke said.

Bank employees told FBI officials that the robber had an athletic build, was clean-shaven and was between 30 and 35 years old. They said he was wearing a dark baseball cap, sunglasses, a blue shirt with a white stripe, baggy khaki pants and tennis shoes.

“He wasn’t sloppy or anything,” said Gary Auer, supervisory special agent for the FBI’s Ventura office.

Based on the description, FBI agents believe that the man may have also been responsible for the July 27 robbery at a Ventura County National Bank branch on Telephone Road in Ventura.

Bourke said he was not surprised by the robber’s clean-cut appearance.

“They come in all kinds,” he said. “From the transient guy that wanted to go to jail for food and shelter on through people wearing business suits.”

Tuesday’s incident was the 35th bank robbery in Ventura County this year, Auer said.