Two arrested after bank heist, chase

Deepa Bharath

Police arrested two men suspected of robbing a Costa Mesa bank and

then leading officers on a 25-minute chase across three cities Thursday

afternoon.

The chase began in Costa Mesa after the suspects allegedly walked away

with an unknown amount of money from Western Financial Bank in the 200

block of Harbor Boulevard around 4:55 p.m., authorities said.

The suspects drove down Balboa Boulevard in Newport Beach, throwing

dollar bills out the car window, said Sgt. Loren Wyrick of the Costa Mesa

Police Department.

The chase ended in Huntington Beach at the corner of Adams Avenue and

Brookhurst Street when officers rammed the suspects’ car, spinning the

vehicle to a stop in the parking lot of a Downey Savings branch, he said.

No further information was available Thursday night.

Juan Cardenas, a maintenance worker at the Western Finance Bank

complex, said the whole incident happened before he realized what was

happening.

“I didn’t even see it happen, it was that fast,” he said. “It’s so

weird. I haven’t heard of anything like this happen here.”