Man charged with robbing a California bank was released from prison a day earlier, prosecutors say

SANTA ANA, California — A man accused of taking three people hostage while robbing a Southern California bank last month had been released from jail a day earlier, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

The 53-year-old was charged with theft after investigators said he claimed to have a gun, jumped over the cash register and began stuffing cash into his pockets at a BMO bank in Anaheim on May 8.

During the robbery, the man ordered the bank manager and two other employees to a storage room, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement. Another employee managed to call the police and the suspect was arrested on the spot.

“One day after his release from prison, this suspect allegedly chose to return to crime by taking three victims hostage while robbing a bank,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in the statement. Officials said he was released from San Quentin on May 7, but did not provide details of his previous incarceration.

After his arrest at the bank, the suspect was taken to the hospital for a scan, where he tried to escape and got into an altercation with police officers, prosecutors said.

He was ordered held without bond pending his arraignment on June 24.

If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison.