CENTRAL : Links Sought in 3 Bank Robberies

Orange County authorities are searching for men involved in separate bank robberies that occurred just minutes apart in Santa Ana and Westminster on Thursday and a third, similar robbery in Santa Ana on Wednesday.

Santa Ana police said a man believed to be in his middle 20s carried a satchel into the Wells Fargo Bank in the 2300 block of North Broadway about 11:40 a.m. Thursday. Witnesses said the man went to a service window and presented the teller with a note that stated: “This is a robbery.”

Police said the teller gave the man an undetermined amount of money, then the suspect fled out the front door.

Maureen Haacker, a Santa Ana police spokeswoman, said an officer happened to be near the bank and chased the man, but the suspect got away.

Police described the man as about 5 feet, 8 inches and 160 pounds, with dark hair. The suspect did not display a weapon, and no one was injured.

Just 19 minutes later in Westminster, police said, a man--partly disguised in a baseball cap and sunglasses--robbed a Household Bank branch.

Witnesses said the man, in his middle 30s, entered the bank in the 14000 block of Beach Boulevard and passed a note to the teller demanding money.

The man reportedly fled on foot with $750 in cash. As in Santa Ana, the man did not display a weapon, police said.

Other customers were in the bank at the time, but again no one was injured.

The Westminster suspect was described as about 5 feet, 10 inches tall and 140 pounds, with light-colored hair.

Santa Ana police are also investigating whether Thursday’s robberies are tied to a robbery at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at a Wells Fargo Bank branch in the 2100 block of East 17th St., Haacker said.

The spokeswoman said $700 was taken in that robbery, but it has not been determined whether the suspect in that crime fits the description of the man in Thursday’s Wells Fargo robbery.