Police arrest bank robbery suspect at Grossmont Center

Police officers arrested a bank robbery suspect Tuesday morning at Grossmont Center shortly after he allegedly held up several tellers at a nearby branch, La Mesa police said.

Investigators are also probing the man’s potential involvement in at least one other robbery, authorities said.

Tuesday’s heist occurred about 10 a.m. at the Bank of the West branch near the mall, off Grossmont Center Drive and Center Drive, according to La Mesa police spokesperson Lt. Katy Lynch.

A man walked into the branch and demanded money from several tellers while “simulating that he had a firearm,” Lynch said in a news release. After the tellers handed over cash, the robber was seen walking across the street toward Grossmont Center.

Several witnesses told responding officers that the robber was inside the Target, just across Center Drive from the bank branch, Lynch said. When officers spotted a man inside the store who matched the suspect’s description, he took off running.

Officers eventually took the man into custody near the Chuze Fitness gym on the south side of the mall, Lynch said. While arresting him, they recovered the money robbed from the bank.

La Mesa detectives are investigating the incident along with agents from the FBI’s San Diego office, according to Lynch.

The suspect, who remained in custody Tuesday night without bail at the downtown San Diego Central Jail, was identified as a 36-year-old resident of Brawley in Imperial County.

According to jail records and a description provided by the FBI, a man with a similar appearance to the La Mesa suspect is suspected of robbing a credit union Monday morning in Holtville in Imperial County.

Police and FBI officials said they’re still investigating the La Mesa suspect’s potential role in prior crimes.