Police Kill Ailing Anaheim Man, 71, in Standoff After Bank Holdup

ANAHEIM — An elderly man who was beset by failing health and financial problems was shot and killed by police Monday after he reportedly robbed a bank and then pointed a gun at officers outside his mobile home.

The man, identified by neighbors as Joseph Vincent Tittone, 71, was shot in his carport after officers tracked him from a Wells Fargo Bank that had just been robbed, police said.

Neighbors said Tittone was in poor health and that this wife had suffered a stroke in June. They also said his rent check had bounced and he had called the manager Monday to say he would pay in cash.

Police said the robbery occurred just before 2 p.m. when a man handed a note to a teller at the bank in the 1000 block of Orangethorpe Avenue. Bank employees notified police within moments of the robbery, Anaheim Police Lt. Ted LaBahn said.

Police in two cruisers, along with a helicopter, tracked the suspect’s car to the Del Este mobile home park off East Street, within blocks of the bank, LaBahn said.

Neighbors said police surrounded Tittone’s vehicle as he drove into the carport next to his trailer home.

Joe Sonoqui, a resident and former manager at the trailer park, said he saw Tittone drive into the park “lickety-split,” followed by two police cars. Three officers got out with their guns drawn and gave Tittone a series of orders. But he looked straight ahead and did not appear to comply, Sonoqui said.

One officer approached Tittone’s car, but suddenly jumped back, Sonoqui said. The officer got behind a police door as the other officers also got out and stood behind their doors, Sonoqui said.

The officers issued commands “like keep your hands where we can see them,” Sonoqui said.

“He obviously wasn’t complying. And their pitch got more intense, to a point where it’s excitable.”

Suddenly, the three officers “flinched in unison,” Sonoqui said, and Tittone was shot.

Another resident said she heard the officers order the driver to get out of the car and drop his gun, then she heard a flurry of gunfire.

Police offered few details about the shooting. But LaBahn said the suspect had pointed a gun at officers.

Sonoqui and another neighbor said Tittone’s wife stepped out of her home to see what was going on. It was unclear whether she witnessed the shooting.