Crime & Safety

UPDATE: Arrest Made in Monday's Bank Robbery

The man escaped the bank branch with an undisclosed amount of cash.

UPDATE: TUESDAY, 12:30 P.M. -- An arrest has been made in the case of Monday afternoon's robbery of the downtown Laguna Beach US Bank branch (pictured), authorities have confirmed.

Bill Wright Wills, a 22-year-old resident of Laguna Beach, was taken into custody by federal agents at a Stater Brothers supermarket in Laguna Hills at 10:15 a.m., according to Lt. Jason Kravetz of the Laguna Beach Police Department.

Officers of the LBPD recognized Wills from surveillance images captured by the bank. Wills, who is on parole, has had contact with the LBPD in the past. Authorities also believe Wills was behind another robbery in Lake Forest on May 16.

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Following his arrest, Wills was taken to the Aliso Viejo sheriff's station for booking.

ORIGINAL POST: The branch on the corner of Forest and Glenneyre in downtown was robbed this afternoon at 4:22 p.m., with the suspected thief escaping with an undisclosed amount of money, according to the Laguna Beach Police Department.

Find out what's happening in Laguna Beachwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The suspect, described as a white male in his 20s, and reportedly wearing a baseball cap, blue jeans, a dark sweatshirt and white tennis shoes, approached a teller inside the bank with a note. He did not brandish a weapon. There were no customers inside the bank at the time of the incident.

Officers arrived at the scene less than a minute after receiving the distress call, but the suspect had already left the bank and fled on foot, last seen heading south on Second Street, according to LBPD spokesperson Lt. Jason Kravetz. Some media reports, however, have cited an eyewitness account of a man jumping into a getaway car on Forest and speeding off.

The same U.S. Bank branch was robbed twice last year by . That suspect, Adam Lynch, was arrested in Denver in April.

Laguna Beach police and FBI officers will be reviewing surveillance video of the robbery in an attempt to identify the suspect.


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