Police Say 'Dual Valley Bandit' Wanted For String Of Bank Robberies Is In Custody

PASADENA (CBSLA.com) — In a cell phone video Pasadena Police with guns drawn take down a guy who they say had just robbed a Wells Fargo bank.

"I happened to be working at the moment it happened. Fed Ex people came in for a delivery and said there are people out there with guns." A witness said.

It happened late Saturday afternoon in a busy Pasadena shopping center at the corner of Foothill Boulevard and  Rosemead Boulevard.

A customer who was in the wrong place at the wrong time was briefly held at gunpoint and then let go

"We saw a couple of policemen had a couple of guys down on the ground pointing their guns at them," Harley Rodriguez said.

Pasadena police said they arrested 41-year-old Shownee Smith, of Pasadena.  He was carrying the money and a shotgun.

Police believe Smith is quite possibly the so-called "Dual-Valley bandit", responsible for five to 10  bank robberies recently in the San Gabriel and San Fernando valleys.

The FBI says the "Dual Valley Bandit" had a busy month of May, robbing banks across Burbank, South Pasadena, North Hollywood, Woodland Hills, Tarzana and maybe five more.