2 arrested on suspicion of robbing with note

Police arrested a man and woman at a Buena Park gas station following a daylight robbery Thursday afternoon at a bank in Costa Mesa.

A robber entered First Bank at 3001 Harbor Blvd. at about 3:25 p.m. Thursday and handed a teller a note demanding cash, according to Costa Mesa Sgt. Ron Chamberlin. The robber, who apparently did not use a weapon, fled the bank with a large amount of money.

At about 5:30 p.m., Buena Park police arrested Roger Dale Kenney, 51, of Anaheim without incident at a gas station in Buena Park, authorities said. Officers also arrested a 23-year-old Buena Park woman who was sitting in a black 2008 Ford Edge parked near the gas station. Chamberlin said the stolen cash was found inside the vehicle, although he declined to state the amount.

Kenney was booked in Orange County Jail on suspicion of bank robbery, while the Buena Park resident was booked on suspicion of conspiracy to commit robbery and later released due to insufficient evidence, authorities said.

The Costa Mesa and Fullerton police departments and the FBI are investigating whether the robbery in Costa Mesa is linked to other bank robberies in Orange County, Chamberlin said.

First Bank has been targeted in more than one robbery in recent years. The bank was held up in August 2003 by a man who used a note and a threat of a gun, then again in October 2006 by a man who entered wearing a Halloween mask, brandished a toy gun and took money from two tellers. In December 2006, the bank was again held up by a man displaying a threatening note. All the robberies are considered unrelated.

Last year, a robber known as the “Armada Bandit” hit the bank in June and October. Riverside resident Michael Buller, suspected of the robberies, killed himself in November after a police chase.

Sgt. Don Holford said he didn’t know why First Bank, which is at Harbor Boulevard and Baker Street, has been targeted so many times, but he suspected location played a part in it.

“A lot of times, these bank robbers, they look at locations, and there’s no method to the madness,” he said. “But that one has been hit a lot of times. It’s close to the freeway, and that’s the escape route.”

MICHAEL MILLER may be reached at (714) 966-4617 or at michael.miller@latimes.com.