Second Bank Branch This Week Is Robbed

Authorities are searching for a man who robbed a Bank of America branch Friday morning and trying to determine if the same man robbed another branch earlier this week.

FBI Special Agent Gary Auer said a man in his early 30s walked into the Bank of America branch at 1855 N. Oxnard Blvd. about 10:20 a.m. and threatened to kill a teller if she did not give him money.

The robber made no mention of having a weapon, Auer said. The teller handed over an undisclosed amount of cash, and the man fled on foot. He was last seen on Oxnard Boulevard, Auer said.

Auer described the robber as a clean-shaven Latino, 5-foot-4, 140 pounds, with short black hair. He was wearing a long-sleeved denim shirt on top of a long-sleeved green shirt, blue jeans and dark shoes, Auer said.

Authorities are comparing the robbery to one Wednesday at the Bank of America branch at 2475 Saviers Road in Oxnard. Auer said the person involved in that robbery may have also robbed a bank in Santa Barbara earlier this year.

Robberies of banks and other financial institutions have dropped this year compared to last in Ventura County, Auer said. By this time last year, bank robbers had struck 25 times. Friday’s is the 16th bank robbery in the county this year, he said.