Homeless Man Caught in Bank After Holdup

Police said a 55-year-old homeless man robbed a Santa Ana bank Thursday morning, stuffed the cash into a backpack and sat down on a couch in the bank’s lobby until police arrived.

“It appears he did everything he could to get caught,” Santa Ana Police Sgt. Bob Clark said.

Melvyn Segovia surrendered peacefully to police when they arrived at the Bank of America on South Main Street and ordered him outside.

The FBI said Segovia recently had been staying at the Salvation Army shelter in Santa Ana.

Segovia had waited in line at about 10:30 a.m. and had handed a teller a note on an insurance document with his name on it, FBI spokesman Joseph T. White said. The note demanded $2,000 in cash and contained an “implied threat” of a weapon, although one wasn’t recovered at the bank, White said.

The teller told police she was counting out the cash when the man said: “Don’t give me any bait money and don’t give me any exploding money,” according to Clark. The worker dropped the note on the floor in front of another teller, who picked it up, read it and called 911, Clark said.

“Our officers were able to keep talking to that teller on the phone as they arrived,” he said. “She kept us informed of his movements.”

Segovia simply zipped the money inside a small bag and waited quietly on the couch, reading a newspaper. Bank employees and five customers huddled at the opposite end of the lobby until police arrived.

“They were quite frightened, I’m sure,” Clark said. “They had no idea what he was planning to do.”

Officers used a loudspeaker to order Segovia outside. He walked out with his hands up, and the money was recovered, Clark said. Segovia was booked into the Santa Ana Detention Facility.