Bank Robber Thwarted Mid-Robbery

I love feel-good news stories in which some "ordinary" person rescues someone else, or in this case, when a crime in progress is thwarted by civilians. Alejandra Molina reports in the Orange County Register on a retired female police officer's involvement in taking down a robbery suspect.

The suspected robber – who weighs about 220 pounds and is more than 6 feet tall – was wearing a black and white jogging suit when he approached a teller at about 12:30 p.m. Saturday at the Bank of America inside the Albertsons at 25872 Muirlands Blvd. in Mission Viejo, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

Authorities identified the man as Tony Baik Fennell, 52, of Las Vegas, who is now believed to have been involved in at least eight bank robberies from Norco to Utah, at least two of them in Orange County. He was not armed nor was [Cynthia] Orel, [53 years of age].

Orel, at 128 pounds, said she heard the bank manager yell that they were being robbed.

How about that, ladies? Having your weight and age printed in the newspaper and online? She's actually a good looking lady.

Once she heard he had a gun, she jumped in to assist a customer grabbing Fennell's left hand - trying to get a hold of him.

Orel tried to grab on to the suspect's other hand, she said. She then went around the suspect as the customer held him and got pushed on to a bench on display. She got him from behind. They ended up against a wall with her arm around his neck. Orel said she took him down in a head lock type of restraint.

"This was a team deal - hands down," she said.

Once Orel had Fennell in carotid restraint she remembers telling the suspect. "You're done. You're caught. You're here. Relax, you're not going anywhere."

I wonder how he felt with an unarmed woman telling him that? "Uh, is it too late to find a new way to get income?"

Go to the paper's website for the whole story and pictures. Congrats to everyone who took this guy down.