Armed robber steals $16,797 from Union Bank

The Fallbrook branch of Union Bank, located in the 1600 block of South Mission Road, was robbed at gunpoint Friday, September 29, at approximately 2:36 p.m. by a male suspect who escaped with $16,797.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Rich Hendrickson said the perpetrator was between 35 and 40 years old, 5’ 9”, with a heavy build — weighing approximately 200 pounds.

“He approached the bank teller, walked up to the counter with the gun in his hand, pointed it at her, instructed her to open all the drawers <and> step back and then he leaped over the counter and removed the money from the drawers,” Hendrickson said. “Fortunately, no one was hurt.”

As of press time, the FBI reports that the suspect is still at large and considered armed and dangerous, said spokesperson April Langwell.

“After the armed takeover, the bank robber fled across the street, ran through a motel and disappeared,” Langwell said. “As cops went to find him, an unrelated parolee at large panicked and started running when he saw the cops. The sheriff’s deputies arrested him because of outstanding felony warrants.” Stephen Herbert Peterson, age 37, a transient, was the individual arrested. “It was determined that suspect did not have any connection to the bank robbery,” Langwell said. “He didn’t match witness descriptions. However, they got another bad guy off the street, so we’re happy about that.”

Langwell said deputies also found a set of keys to a 2006 Lexus parked in the motel parking lot. “It was determined that the vehicle had been stolen in Valley Center,” Hendrickson said.

The valuable basics of Neighborhood Watch were proven in this investigation because it was observant members of the business community who led deputies to the apprehension of the man arrested on felony warrants.

Office workers noticed unusual behavior on the part of the man earlier in the day at a nearby motel. “I sat down outside where I always do, and when I sat down, I noticed someone in one of the motel rooms on the second floor of the Franciscan Inn [next door] slammed their sliding door shut and quickly closed the curtains,” said one of the employees. She said she thought the incident rather odd, since most people don’t slam the doors that forcibly.

Little did she know, her coworker got an odd feeling as well about the man when on her morning break.

“I had never had anything like that happen to me,” the other employee said. “I came into work around 7 a.m. and went outside around 8 a.m. I saw this guy come out of a second floor room at the motel and look across the parking lot toward Union Bank. I thought to myself, ‘Who would come down to Fallbrook to stare at a parking lot?’ I got an uneasy feeling, then he looked at me and I went inside. I didn’t think anymore about it at the time.”

Just after 2:30 p.m. the first employee said sheriff’s deputies approached her while on her afternoon break and asked if she had seen anyone pass through the parking lot who might have been connected to a bank robbery that had just taken place across the street at Union Bank.

“I told them about the motel room, the slamming of the door and the closing of the curtains,” she said. “They advised me to go inside and lock the office door.” When she shared the information with her coworkers, one told of her experience that morning. They decided to inform the deputies.

“I can’t explain it; I just got this funny feeling,” the second employee said.

“She told the cops they needed to bust into the motel room,” the first one said. “We watched the helicopter fly over about 3 p.m. and we saw the guy hide against the wall as it went over. We really knew something wasn’t right; he was acting too suspicious.

“About 3:30 p.m., we saw the guy come out of the motel room onto the balcony and throw a large duffle bag over the side; we figured the cops were coming in the front of the room. Then he jumped off [the balcony] and started going and we could see that he had a gun.

“He left the bag behind and was creeping along the wall. We could see him standing under tree with a gun in his hand.”

One of the employees made a call to 9-1-1. “I was shaking; it was surreal,” she said. Shortly afterward, they said sheriff’s deputies informed them that they had arrested the man. “They said he didn’t have a gun on him when he was apprehended, but we clearly saw him with a gun, so we know he must have thrown it in the bushes before he was caught.”

While the Sheriff’s Department and the FBI say the man arrested on felony warrants was not connected to the robbery, some of those involved have voiced an opinion that up to three people may have been involved, since a woman supposedly rented the motel room from which the man ran.

“We really feel that we are looking for only one suspect,” Langwell said. “Fortunately, we have roughly a 70-percent success rate in catching bank robbers. Typically, there are lots of clues left behind.”