Police Arrest Two Men Suspected of Robbing Banks

Two Los Angeles County men suspected of robbing several banks were arrested Thursday morning after a brief foot chase through a residential neighborhood, while a third suspect remained at large, police said.

Wayne M. Criner, 25, of Hawthorne and Van M. Farmer, 23, of Los Angeles were arrested shortly after 8:30 a.m. when they pulled into a gas station in a stolen van and attempted to flee police on foot, said Lt. Luis Ochoa of the Huntington Beach Police Department. A third suspect escaped and is still being sought by police, Ochoa said.

Police were alerted to the suspects when an officer noticed the men acting suspiciously and ran a check on their van, which had been reported stolen recently in Hawthorne. The men pulled into a gas station near Beach Boulevard and Edinger Avenue and fled when the officer attempted to question them, Ochoa said.

With the help of a canine unit from Santa Ana, several plainclothes officers and a helicopter, the two men were found at a local apartment building. Criner was armed with a loaded semiautomatic pistol and two police radios and a set of plastic handcuffs were found in the van, Ochoa said.

“We think these guys were going to rob a bank,” said Ochoa, noting that they fit the descriptions of men suspected of several bank robberies in the county.

Both men were arrested on suspicion of possessing a stolen vehicle and robbery. Bail was set at $50,000 each, Ochoa said.