Man arrested on suspicion of robbing credit union after being turned away at another

Costa Mesa police on Friday arrested a man on suspicion of robbing a Harbor Boulevard credit union, after he allegedly walked in with a note and walked out with an unspecified amount of cash — his second attempt that day, officials reported.

Lt. Bryan Wadkins of the Costa Mesa Police Department confirmed Joseph Paul Workman, 43, of Costa Mesa was detained, after a witness who’d been at the SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union Friday shortly before 2 pm. tracked Workman on foot and provided updates to police on his whereabouts.

“He passed a note, received cash and left on foot,” Wadkins said Tuesday. “Based upon the direction of travel and information provided by the witness, officers were able to locate and detain someone across from the shopping center where [the robbery] occurred.”

Workman fled on foot to a construction site, where he attempted to hide some of the money he’d taken from the credit union. He also removed some of his clothing, ostensibly to look dissimilar to any witness descriptions.

“He discarded the cash because, I think, he knew he was being followed,” Wadkins said.

Officers were able to match Workman to the credit union’s video surveillance footage and the witness’ description.

However, at some point later in the day, police were alerted to a second call that had come in regarding a similar incident having taken place on the same block of Harbor Boulevard approximately 10 minutes before the robbery at SchoolsFirst.

In that instance, which occurred shortly before 1:45 p.m., a man reportedly walked into a different credit union wearing a baseball cap and a mask that covered most of his face, Wadkins said.

“While in the business, some employee thought he was suspicious and asked him to remove his mask, at which time he decided to leave,” the lieutenant reported. “Based upon review of that surveillance [footage], we were able to confirm it was the same subject.”

Officers believe it is likely that, having been thwarted at one credit union, Workman walked to a second location and committed the robbery. While a note was recovered from SchoolsFirst, Wadkins said no weapon appears to have been used during either incident.

As of Tuesday, Workman was being detained in Orange County’s Theo Lacy Facility and scheduled to appear in an arraignment hearing, where he was to answer for charges of second-degree robbery and attempted second-degree robbery.

Court records indicate Workman was previously convicted on two felony accounts of second-degree robbery, stemming from an incident that took place March 22, 2017. Although he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to serve five years in jail, it is unclear when he was released.

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