Masked gunman robs bank in Corona del Mar

Police, FBI are still searching for man who held up teller at Bank of America on East Coast Highway.A masked gunman remained at large Friday after robbing a Corona del Mar bank. After the crime, police and FBI investigators found evidence in a Costa Mesa apartment that investigators believe is related to the robbery.

Newport Beach police were sent to a Bank of America branch on East Coast Highway at about 9:30 a.m. Friday. A teller told police that she was confronted by a man who concealed his identity with sunglasses, a black scarf around his head and plastic mask that covered his entire face.

The robber carried what looked like a chrome-plated revolver during the robbery, police said. No one at the bank was hurt, and the thief left with an unknown amount of money.

About an hour after the robbery, Newport Beach police and FBI special agents searched an apartment in the 19000 block of Maple Avenue in Costa Mesa, Newport Beach police spokesman Sgt. Bill Hartford said.

Hartford said Newport Beach police don’t believe the robbery suspect lives at the apartment where the evidence was found. He said he could not reveal exactly what investigators found in the apartment or what information led them to the location.

“I’m just hoping that evidence gives us some immediate results,” Hartford said.

The robber is described as a man between 30 and 40 years old, weighing about 170 pounds and being about 5-foot-8.

Newport Beach police have asked anyone with information related to the robbery to call the department at (800) 550-NBPD or the FBI at (310) 477-6565.

20051231isc7ldncDOUGLAS ZIMMERMAN / DAILY PILOT(LA)Local police inspect an apartment near 19th Street and Maple Avenue. They say it is somehow connected to Friday’s robbery.