Bank Holdup Suspect Caught After Barricading Himself in Home

A suspect in a Newport Beach bank robbery barricaded himself in his Santa Ana residence for about four hours Thursday night before Santa Ana police and the FBI were able to dislodge and arrest him.

The suspect was identified by the FBI as Michael Charles Jones, 32. He was captured about 8:30 p.m. after FBI agents fired tear gas into the duplex at 1322-A N. Bewley St., where the man had holed up. No shots were fired, and no one was injured during the siege.

Newport Beach police said the man is a suspect in a robbery at the List American Bank at Birch Street and MacArthur Boulevard. The FBI said the holdup took place at 11:20 a.m. The amount taken was not disclosed.

According to Santa Ana police, bank robbery investigators obtained the license number of the getaway car, which was used to get the suspect’s North Bewley Street address. But when Santa Ana police and FBI agents went to the residence about 4:30 p.m., the man refused to come out. Police and the FBI then surrounded the building.

Officers communicated with the man by telephone several times, trying to persuade him to surrender. When he did not, the tear gas was used and he was captured without incident, Santa Ana police said. Officers said the suspect, when found inside the house, was hiding in a linen closet.