BRIEFLY IN THE NEWS Costa Mesa...

BRIEFLY IN

THE NEWS

Costa Mesa bank robbed at gunpoint

An armed robber got away with an undisclosed amount of money from

the California Federal Bank branch in Costa Mesa on Wednesday

afternoon, police said.

The man entered the bank branch in the 2700 block of Harbor

Boulevard at about 2 p.m. and demanded money from a teller, Costa

Mesa Police Lt. Dale Birney said.

“We know he had a handgun,” he said. “But we don’t know if he just

had it or pointed it.”

The man then got out the door and was last seen driving away in a

“dark color foreign car” north on Peterson Place, Birney said. No one

was hurt during the heist.

Witnesses described the alleged robber as a man with an “athletic

build,” about 5 feet 9 inches tall, about 180 pounds and wearing a

white baseball cap and a gray T-shirt, Birney said.

The same branch was robbed twice in 2001 -- once over the

Thanksgiving holiday weekend, when two men made off with more than

$8,200, and on April 30, when a robber fled with an undisclosed sum.

Those with information about Wednesday’s robbery are asked to call

the Costa Mesa Police Department at (714) 754-5255.