Jan 22, 2008 10:15 pm US/Pacific
3 Armed Robbers Remain At Large After Pursuit
Suspects Throw Wads Of Cash Out The Window
Police Shut Down Crenshaw Mall Searching For Suspects
LOS ANGELES (CBS) ―
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Bank robbery suspects led police Tuesday on a high-speed chase that ended in the Crenshaw District on Jan. 22, 2008.
CBS
Authorities searched Wednesday for three of the five suspects who led police on a freeway chase from the site of an Orange County bank robbery before their vehicle crashed and they ran into the crowded Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza mall.
"Agents are investigating to determine the whereabouts of the three outstanding individuals," Laura Eimiller, spokeswoman for the FBI in Los Angeles said. "Reward money will definitely be made available for information leading to arrests and convictions."
The FBI and Costa Mesa police were leading the investigation, but Los Angeles police were just as concerned about the remaining three suspects.
"We discussed it for 45 minutes this morning in our tactical briefings and we gave out suspect descriptions," Los Angeles police Sgt. Ed Clark said.
The three missing suspects were described by the FBI as black men in their 20s, all wearing black ski masks. One had a white sweatshirt with red, baby-blue and pink dots, black pants and dark gardening gloves. He was carrying a large red/white/blue mesh picnic-style bag.
The second wore a black sweatshirt, dark pants and gardening gloves. The third had a red-square pattern design on a flannel jacket and dark pants and gloves. All were considered armed and dangerous.
Bank surveillance photographs have not been released, in part because the suspects' masks effectively disguised their identities, Eimiller said.
The lockdown situation at the mall was tense at times, witnesses and authorities said. But no one was injured and the mall re-opened later Tuesday.
"We evacuated about 1,500 people," Clark said. "But we took two suspects into custody and nobody was hurt.
"People cooperated," Clark said. "They understood the situation." Mall spokeswoman Trish Hoffman said she appreciated law enforcement's handling of the situation.
The trouble began about 9:40 a.m. Tuesday in Costa Mesa at a Downey Savings & Loan, 360 E. 17th St., when three men wearing ski masks and brandishing weapons carried out a takeover robbery, Costa Mesa police said. They got away with an undisclosed amount of cash.
The gunmen left the bank and got into a blue Toyota Camry, where another man was waiting as a getaway driver, police said. They went one block and the suspects switched vehicles, getting into a black SUV.
The crew of a police helicopter spotted the SUV at the transition of the Costa Mesa (55) and Corona del Mar (73) freeways in Costa Mesa. Police units caught up to the vehicle on the northbound San Diego (405) Freeway, but the suspects exited in Huntington Beach and returned to the 405 freeway. The CHP joined the chase in the Seal Beach area.
During the pursuit, the suspects could be seen throwing fistfuls of bills out of the fast-moving vehicle, sending bills billowing in the vehicle's wake. Most of the money was later recovered, Eimiller said, including small amounts turned in by people who found bills on the streets.
Although the suspects and pursuing officers were traveling at speeds of 100 miles per hour or faster in freeway traffic, there were no reports of crashes or injuries until the SUV plowed into a tree at Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, Highway Patrol spokesman Ricardo Quintero said.
The suspects jumped out of the vehicle and ran, but two of them were quickly captured. Police knocked down one suspect with the door of his patrol car.
The other suspects went into the mall, prompting authorities to lock down the building.
The suspects in custody were identified as Demetrik L. Smart, 23, and Anthony Joseph Casio, 25, both of Los Angeles, Eimiller said. The suspects are expected to be charged with armed bank robbery Wednesday or Thursday.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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