Bank Robber Hits El Toro Road Citibank, Apologizes to Clerk

Authorities are searching for a man who allegedly robbed a bank in Lake Forest today and may be the same person who robbed a Dana Point bank about an hour before.

Lake Forest police got a report at 2:52 p.m. of a robbery in progress at the Citibank at 23562 El Toro Rd.

According to police, a white male in his 40s or 50s entered the bank, made threats and left the bank with an unknown amount of cash.

Witnesses to the robbery described the man as about 5 feet 8 inches tall, 150 to 180 pounds, wearing a white baseball cap worn backwards, teal T-shirt and tinted sunglasses, police say.

FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller told City News Service that during both robberies the suspect told clerks that he was sorry, but he needed the money to help family members pay medical bills.

No weapon was seen or used during the robbery, but the man was carrying a leather-bound notebook, police say.

Police detained a man matching the robber's description for a short time in the area of El Toro Road and Rockfield Boulevard, but was released after a bank employee said he was not the robber.

The robber, who fled on foot from the Lake Forest bank, is thought to be the same man who robbed the U.S. Bank at 33621 Del Obispo in Dana Point at about 2 p.m. Thursday, according to Jim Amormino of the Orange County Sheriff's Department. 

Amormino added that the man is believed to be driving a beige sedan.

Investigators from the FBI and OCSD deputies spent Thursday afternoon at the bank, which closed temporarily, investigating the robbery.