SAN DIEGO SAN DIEGO — An armed man in a black ski mask leapt over the counter of a Scripps Ranch bank, dragged a teller by the hair and took money from the vault Wednesday morning in what San Diego police and the FBI described as a takeover-style robbery.
The heist happened shortly before 10 a.m. at a California Coast Credit Union branch in a shopping center on Mira Mesa Boulevard, immediately east of Interstate 15, Officer Tony Martinez said.
The man walked in and immediately jumped the counter, Martinez said.
Armed with a handgun, the robber grabbed a teller by the hair, pulled her to the ground and then dragged her into the vault, where he demanded money.
Other tellers complied with the assailant. The FBI said he ordered them to the ground.
Authorities said the man grabbed a small recycling bin, stuffed cash from the vault in it and left in a white Chevrolet Z71 pickup, which he had already backed up to the front door.
Police did not disclose how much money he took.
Authorities described the robber as a possibly black man, who wore a blue zip-up hoodie, dark pants and black shoes. He also wore a black ski mask, dark gloves and wielded a handgun.
The FBI added that he was about 5-feet, 5-inches tall, with a muscular build.
About an hour after the heist, police found a white Chevrolet Z71 pickup matching the description of the suspect’s getaway vehicle parked about a half-mile from the credit union, along Scripps Lake Drive north of Scripps Ranch High School, Martinez said. Nobody was inside the truck.
Martinez said Wednesday afternoon that detectives were still investigating to determine if the pickup they located was the same one used by the robber.
Wednesday’s takeover-style heist bore stark similarities to one pulled off by three men in May in Escondido. Like Wednesday’s robbery, those suspects also backed up their vehicle to the front door of a credit union a little before 10 a.m., burst into the financial establishment with guns drawn, hopped over the counter, ordered employees to the ground, demanded cash from the vault and then used an empty bank trash can to haul off the money.
The suspects in the Escondido heist — which happened May 23 at the San Diego County Credit Union branch on Centre City Parkway near West Felicita Avenue — were covered head-to-toe, like the suspect in Wednesday’s robbery, with hoods drawn tight and gloves.
The Escondido suspects used a stolen SUV they’d backed up to the credit union doors, but quickly switched vehicles afterward to one they parked a few blocks away. On Wednesday, police said a truck matching the suspect’s pickup was found abandoned about a half-mile from the crime scene.
Authorities said late Wednesday afternoon that it was too early to determine if the robberies were connected, but confirmed that law enforcement had made no arrests in the Escondido heist. Earlier this month, in a renewed effort for tips in the Escondido robbery, the FBI offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to arrests and convictions in that case.
Anyone with information about Wednesday’s robbery in Scripps Ranch or the May heist in Escondido was urged to call the FBI’s San Diego field office at (858) 320-1800 or San Diego County Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477. Tipsters can also provide information online at tips.fbi.gov or sdcrimestoppers.org.
